The Emperor in Bet
by marsolino
Summary: A Self-Insert gone wrong, with the God-Emperor of Mankind in Earth Bet.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I woke up to a white void of nothingness, confused. Why wasn't I in my bed? I distinctly remember going to sleep in my pyjamas and waking up like this wasn't normal. Come to think of it, being this calm wasn't normal either...

From the corner of my eye I spotted something. I turned, as much as I could turn in the void, and saw something that elicited a groan from me.

 **Worm CYOA**

In bold, bright letters, the classic Worm Choose Your Own Adventure appeared before me.

I never believed in the existence of higher powers, but I should have known better than to tempt fate by posting daring comments on the internet. Was this the work of a R.O.B.? Where was he/she/it? I looked around, but all I could see was an infinite expanse of white nothingness.

I know I should be panicking now. Despite knowing the CYOA and knowing that after ten years I should be able to go home keeping any powers I get, I should be panicking. I would leave behind my home, my family, my comfortable life, everything I know would be different. Instead I was calm, I was accepting and was viewing the situation rationally. Probably the work of R.O.B., I shrugged and went on. If it was an hallucination I would wake up and laugh at my imagination, if it was real it would be an incredible opportunity to gain immense power.

Let's see... I gingerly extended my arm and touched the Self-Insert option and in response it glowed a light blue color before the image changed.

Difficulty? World Breaker, obviously. Despite having written a story previously and having my character chose a more challenging difficulty, this is real life and I very much like to keep living.

I watched thoughtfully as the powers screen came into view. All of them were fantastic powers, some having the potential to turn me into a nigh-omnipotent entity, like Power Manipulator. All I would need is a bit of time and careful planning. The same goes for Shaper, Inspired Inventor and Kaleidoscope. But that wasn't what got my attention.

I touched the Emperor of Man option, selecting to have the same body as the Emperor. I have always been fascinated by the lore of Warhammer 40k, and the Emperor himself was such an amazing and inspiring figure, his powers nearly god-like, able to rivale the Chaos Gods at his peak. With this the possibilities were endless.

I skipped the companions screen without second thought. I have always been a loner of sorts, except for a few trusted friends, and having someone dropped into my lap ready to become my subordinate without the effort required left a bad taste in my mouth.

As for Perks... Blank, definitely, so that Contessa and other Thinkers couldn't act overtly against me, Shattered Limiter too, that would boost my powers further, without taking into account that I chose World Breaker difficulty, which would leave me with already double the power of the Emperor at his prime. Secret Lair, because I seriously didn't want to wake up in an alley as a 13 feet tall man of god-like power.

With that, I went to the last page and pushed the finish button, feeling satisfied in my choices. I would gain the power of the most powerful psyker to ever live, and those powers would become even more powerful as time went on. I would be invincible!

As the CYOA screen disappeared from view and the void began to fade around me I felt a disorientating sensation, before pain hit me.

Pain unlike anything I ever felt before, my whole soul screaming in torment. I didn't know what was happening, but in my last moments I felt IT. Incredible power, and bright, **searing LIGHT.**

 **oOo**

Bob the R.O.B. -shut up Marlene, my name isn't funny!-, some higher planes of existence, a few multiverses and in his own personal dimension far away from where he dropped the boy, was watching what just happened and winced.

"I just had to screw up my first insert...", he lamented mournfully.

He had just reached the middle-tier of nigh-omnipotence and just wanted to have some fun. So he did as his brethren in power did, visited a world and took a poor schmuck, offered him power and sent him on his way to have an adventure and in the meantime entertain him. THIS certainly wasn't the desired effect though...

He sighed, he could already imagine what Marlene would tell him, it would be eons before she would let him forget this.

Oh well, he shrugged. He moved his attention to what he liked to call a 'Prime Earth', a dimension where no magic or other supernatural powers existed, and started searching for the next target, this time he would pay more attention to the transition and everything would be fine...


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Agony.

Ceaseless agony.

That's what his existence was all about. Even ten thousand years after his internment in the Golden Throne, the pain hadn't diminished any.

Thanks to the injury his son Horus inflicted on him he was left in a state of powerlessness.

He could do nothing to comfort the masses of Humanity that needed his guidance. He was left helpless to watch as the Imperium he sacrificed millions and billions of human life to build started to rot from the inside. His ideals of an enlightened empire, based on logic and science, trampled upon. Religion sprung up from the aftermath of what came to be called the Horus Heresy, a religion focused on him. And during ten millennia, the only thing he could do was trying to safeguard the Imperium from further harm. Attacked from all sides, on the Materium and Immaterium, only he, with his incredible power, could protect the realms of Humanity from the depredations of Chaos.

He supposed he should find some irony in the fact that he, who denied himself the use of his psychic might for almost all his life, was kept alive by that same power. All his life, from his adulthood in Ancient Anatolia, to the space age, tried his hardest to use his psyker ability only in time of duress, preferring the strength of his hands and his wit to solve his problems, hoping that the rest of Humanity would follow in his footsteps. And yet... the only thing keeping him trapped in this half-life was the same thing he denied for so long.

The most infuriating thing however, was that he could easily heal himself and take charge once more if there weren't so many things that occupied him all the time.

Thanks to the psychic amplifying technology of the Golden Throne, his already massive abilities were pushed to their maximum and beyond, but even that couldn't help him now.

He had to fight the Four his every moment, their attacks coming from the very wound that lead to this. He had to keep the Warp Gate under the Golden Throne from destabilising even further, while his Custodes and the remaining Sisters of Battle kept the daemons of the Warp from entering Terra. He kept various warp storms from forming in various human held sectors of the galaxy, he had spread his influence to every human in his Imperium, providing a minimum of protection against the sweet promises of Chaos, unless some fools didn't go searching for them. He communicated to various agents in dreams, sending prophetic messages, resuscitated various heroic figures in time of need. He directed the light of the Astronomican, providing a point of reference for the ships of Mankind to travel the dangerous waters of the Immaterium.

There simply wasn't enough time to direct his power to heal his broken body, to purge it of the taint of Chaos. If he let his concentration waver for a single instant, something would give and everything would crumble like a house of cards, taking his beloved Imperium, broken and rotten to the core as it was, and the trillions upon trillions of humans with it.

He felt another soul destroyed in his vicinity, its power added to his own. That's what it came to in the end. Even with the Golden Throne, he was too diminished to keep everything working under his own power and his servants, the ever faithful and dutiful Companions, sacrificed thousands of humans to him to keep the Imperium standing.

He wanted to weep. So many uncountable numbers sacrificed to him every day, for the hope of a brighter future.

Even for a formidable brain such as his, for what could be called a brain in his rotted body, took a moment to realise his pain had ended. There was no pain, there was no pressure from the Four. The Astronomican was absent and his Companions weren't there.

He stretched his awareness to the Immaterium, ever watchful and vigilant of a possible attack... and found nothing. The Sea of Souls was calm, there were no daemons, Terra had no more than six billion people upon its soil. Confusion gave to surprise as the minds of Ancient Terra and the last soul he absorbed gave him the answers he was looking for.

He opened his eyes.

And the Emperor awoke.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The Emperor found himself in a rectangular room, seated in a comfortable chair in from of a terminal.

A desk with a keyboard on it and the screen occupying the entire wall. To the left side there was a nice sofa and to the right a television with various entertainment devices under it. He couldn't help but name this room 'The Entertainment Room'.

All the appliances were relatively advanced for the time period he found himself in, but he couldn't help the wave of nostalgia that passed over him. The second millennium just came to a close, wars were still waged against fellow humans, and the problems of the far future seemed so far away compared to this peaceful era.

Nonetheless, it was startling to see such primitive technology, he spent more than 20 thousand years hiding amongst the scientific communities and if he remembered correctly, and he did, at this point in time he was masquerading as a Physics Professor in England. But the Immaterium was calm, the powerful presences of the Four were absent, his own, carefully concealed one didn't exist.

Could it be that the boy he usurped was right? That he was in another dimension? Humanity had long theorised the existence of such and during the Golden Age of Technology, when humans hadn't discovered the corrupting influence of Chaos and its effect of technology, had even began the construction of a device capable of piercing the theoretical veil between realities.

The project never saw the light of day, since the Iron War started not soon after, but evidence proved that his situation could be possible.

He knew, intellectually, that entities more powerful than he could exist. The Old Ones were a fine example, despite their extinction. But for a... Random Omnipotent Bastard...? That certainly threw him for a loop.

But first, he stood up. For the first time in ten millennia, he actually stood on his own two legs, unburdened by pain and the effort his subjects required of him. He took stock of his body, the same one he crafted with his powers for the purpose of the Great Crusade. He already knew its characteristics, but he couldn't help but marvel at the strength of his hands, the power hidden in the muscles of his legs. 13 feet tall, tanned skin, black hair that reached his shoulders, brown eyes, an aquiline nose and the subtle golden radiance that he kept showing. All crafted with one purpose in mind, to awe and terrify. Awe humanity, to better be able to take charge, and terrify its enemies.

If he hadn't been in such a haste he probably would have downplayed such characteristics and he should have known better than to display his power so openly. Humans, he knew, had an instinctive need to believe in something greater than them. In an age where war and blood and suffering was present in such quantities, he became that figure. He was the focus of their hopes and dreams, and he really should have known better... he could still remember when he showed off some tricks with lightning to impress the ladies in a tavern and people started worshipping him as the god of lightning.

However, as much as things change with time, many others remain the same.

As the Four did in his home, these... Entities, preyed on Humanity in its cradle, before it had the chance to spread its wings, bringing destruction to Ancient Terra for their own gain.

It was unacceptable. They had to be destroyed, to the last of them. Maybe he should reveal himself and kill the remaining one. Still, the last time he did so he was revered as a God, what was to say these still primitive humans wouldn't do the same if he killed these Endbringers?

On the other hand, the last time he chose to remain in the shadows the Iron War happened and then the Age of Strife. He would have to think about his future choices at a later date, for now there was much to be done.

He had to take stock of the situation, acclimate himself to the time period and test the limits of his powers.

One thing was certain though. Just as he did to the Void Dragon under the guise of St. George, he would destroy these abominations, for humanity and its bright future.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Emperor left the room, curious about this facility.

If the memories of the boy were correct, there should be materials and machines ready to be used, but he took it with a grain of salt. Even if he felt a modicum of gratitude to the entity that brought him here he didn't want to expect something and come out disappointed. He created an interstellar empire with his own hands once before and no one gave him free materials and machines. He could still remember those centuries spent scavenging the blighted land of Terra, searching for materials and abandoned technology, while all around him barbarians with no knowledge of science used what was left to wage war over the pitiful fields capable of growing food that remained. He managed then, with only himself and his wits, he could do it again in a third millennium Terra.

While he explored the 'Lair' and began to plan for the future, he couldn't help but think about himself.

Was he real? Did the entity just copy his soul and power and stuffed it into the boy, only for him to come out the victor? Or did it transport his dying spirit from his home dimension? Each conclusion had its own horrific downsides. If he was just a copy, what could he do should he manage to go back? There already was an Emperor, a dying one to be sure, but he couldn't just usurp his place. He had to work with the benefit on mankind at the forefront of his thoughts, and that meant two Emperors was not a viable option. Loyalties would divide and there was the possibility of a civil war in the making.

No, should he manage to find a way back, he would help his counterpart if possible and stay in the shadows, where he could devote his attention to matters his public persona could not.

But if he was the real one... What happened to his Imperium? Without his presence on the Golden Throne, the warp rift under it would have overwhelmed his Custodes. Only his presence kept the rift small enough that the daemons could be stalled at the entrance. Various warp storms would come into existence, maybe even a new Eye of Terror.

He shuddered at the thought, just imagining what would happen should something of that magnitude happen in the Sol System.

He shook his head. Such thoughts were useless until he managed to find a way back, and even then, he couldn't in good conscience leave the human population in this dimension undefended in the face of this Warrior Entity. Before any plan could be fleshed out, he needed to calm the situation here and point humanity toward the future.

During his thinking, he kept exploring. Just outside the Entertaining Room there was a hallway with four doors. The first on the left led to a cavernous room, full of machines and metals, various charts and computers ready to begin production. He found himself grudgingly admitting that for the time being, it wasn't a bad beginning point. The machines were advanced enough to produce plasteel and ceramite, for further construction he could always upgrade those to a more advanced level of technology.

The door to the right opened in what he thought to be a laboratory, various containers of chemicals alongside the walls, tables full of surgical equipment, various devices for the study of biology and small samples of various creatures in labeled bottles.

The one further in the hallway and to the left opened in a huge bedroom with what seemed like an attached bathroom. That meant the other outside was the exit and taking in consideration the size of the facility, he couldn't help but wonder how deep it actually was to not attract the attention of the authorities.

The room was nothing special, a bed, a dresser and a bookshelf. He moved toward the latter, curious to what he would find. His eyes searched the spines of the books, recognising some classical literature of the time period, before he stopped in front of a particular book, that he was sure was there at the behest of the powerful entity.

 **Warhammer 40.000 Lore**

Well... that certainly was unexpected. He knew, from the memories of the boy, that his home dimension was fictional in his own reality, but having confirmation was unexpected.

He left that for now, he would read it at a later date. At the moment, the most pressing concern was seeing for himself the situation of the city above ground and take a more detailed feel of these parahumans.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been at least five minutes that he began climbing the stairs to the surface and considering his current size, that was saying something.

As the manhole to the surface came into view, the Emperor couldn't help but think about the humans out there. Didn't they perform some scans of the city? How could they miss the entire facility? He shook his head, those were thoughts best left for another time.

He emerged in what seemed to be the cellar of a house, full of dust. During his ascent he kept scanning the city with his power and knew there were no inhabitants in the house, so he calmly stepped through and began his walk upstairs. The building didn't seem abandoned, so that left out the poorer districts of the city, it was in good condition, with sheets of fabric over the forniture. Maybe a house for sale?

As he exited from the front door and easily blanked his presence from the minds of the few pedestrians and the various electronics around him, the Emperor took a breath of fresh air. Air not polluted from millennia of industrial waste, or artificial oxygen because Terra had long since stopped producing its own breathable air, with the death of all plant life. The minds of the people around him were also a welcome change from the ones he was familiar with. There was some unease to be sure, he knew that crime in this city was a major danger, but compared to what he was used to, it was a definite improvement.

He began to walk around the city in the light of afternoon, for the moment preferring to walk on his own legs. It's been so long that he wanted to appreciate the fact his body was whole and not a corpse sitting on a throne.

Feeling a presence coming at high-speed from the air, the Emperor raised his gaze to see a blond haired girl in a white outfit flying in the sky. From his information that was Victoria Dallon, a girl with a powerful force-field around her body granting her superhuman physical abilities and an aura that could inspire awe or fear from others. From this distance he already managed to gather what he needed. With his powers he had easily been able to take in the whole population of Terra, their thoughts, impressions and souls, but for him to understand fully how these shards interacted with their physical bodies he needed a closer look.

As he suspected, the various growths in the brain of parahumans functioned as relays for the shards. The shards themselves hid in parallel dimensions and used their ability to send and receive energy and data through these growths, never exposing themselves to harm, leaving the testing of new applications of their ability to humans.

It was disgusting to see his fellow humans used as guinea pigs, but he had to admit that the method was sound. Leave the trouble of figuring out the nuances of their power to the host species, then collect the data and move on. These Entities may be a danger to humanity and therefore to be destroyed, but he could give them points for their resourcefulness. He had done something similar with his own sons while they were growing, giving them part of his own essence, to protect them from Chaos.

He walked around the city for the rest of the afternoon, feeling the minds of the inhabitants, getting a layout of the city, he even met two more parahumans. A young man who could sense emotions and a woman that could give temporary powers to those she touched.

It was a productive walk, he decided, before teleporting himself to the Entertainment Room. He sat at the chair he appeared in a few hours ago and started the terminal. Now was the time to refresh his mind on the current history.

In the end, the whole point of divergence from his own history was the moment the Warrior appeared. After that and the appearance of parahumans and Enbringers, history as he knew it didn't happen.

It was, however, easy for him to see the hands of Cauldron all over the place. Keeping in mind their clairvoyant and Contessa, some things started to make sense. With their actions they stopped the total collapse of society, assassinating troublesome individuals and infusing money in flagging economies. Despite the disgust their actions would undoubtedly evoke in the populace should they come to light, the Emperor was impressed. For the limited manpower they had at their disposal, they managed to keep the situation stable enough to keep working on the plan to kill the Warrior. It truly was a pity that it wouldn't work. The Warrior was too powerful to defeat by conventional means, even if the irony of turning his own shards against him didn't escape the Emperor.

For now though, the situation with the Warrior was at a stalemate and the Emperor needn't interfere immediately. The abomination was content with mindlessly playing the hero and for the moment it was enough. Even the Endbringers were something that could be reviewed at a later date, their next attack wouldn't be for another month and he still had to plan this properly.

What he could do, however, was remove some troublesome elements that kept threatening humanity just for their sick pleasures. He reached out and after having his targets in his sight, the Emperor brought his psychic might down upon them, crushing their minds and souls, leaving the last one alive.

This one could be of use, if certain precautions were taken. In front of him a small figure materialised, her blond hair disheveled, brown eyes staring at him in confusion. She wore a green dress, with a butcher's apron stained in blood.

The Emperor smiled. "Hello, Riley."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The child opened her mouth to say something, but sleep claimed her before she could utter a single word. She slowly floated to the sofa, before laying still, her mind kept calm under the influence of his power.

The Emperor gazed at the child for a moment in thought, before turning to the terminal to continue his research. Papers published by scholars on the biology of parahumans, study of their phychology, trigger events. He didn't leave anything of importance out.

The reason he spared the child was that she could be of immense help to his future projects. Thanks to the memories he possessed, he knew the Entities traveled various worlds in the galaxy, seeding them with their shards before executing genocide on the alien species. The technologies possessed by Tinkers were most likely the technology that the host species of the past used and from what he understood, many of them run on principles not yet understood by humanity at this point.

In the future, when he destroyed the Warrior and the remains of the Thinker, the shards granting Tinker powers would be the ones that should be spared. He didn't know if some of those technologies could be of benefit to humanity, many of them would be analogues to what he already knew, that was for certain. Different species, different homewolrds, but always some reoccurring necessities. If those species were advanced enough, they would come to the same roadblocks humanity encountered in his home dimension and maybe come up with a different solution. There were possibilities there.

In life he wore different guises through the ages, he had been a hunter for the tribe, a warrior, a politician, a teacher, a leader. But he would always be a scientist at heart. He was the leader humanity needed after the Age of Strife, now he could afford to be a scientist once more. And should he need his warriors, the child with vast knowledge of biology at her fingertips would be a great help, maybe even capable of improving on some of his methods. Time would tell.

He was momentarily distracted from his perusing when he caught sight of a news article in the internet. Apparently the corpses of those he killed had been found in a small town south of Boston, their victims retaining enough presence to call the authorities once they collapsed. Though there was some speculation about the absence of Bonesaw. He allowed himself a small amused smile, if only they knew...

Meanwhile, he was projecting his presence in the Immaterium, throughly investigating first Terra, then the Sol System for alien presences. When he found none, he cast himself further into the currents of the Immaterium, looking for Chaos in the other sectors of the galaxy. He found none, but that didn't stop him.

He knew, just as the Four knew, that his mere presence would keep any nascent daemon from forming in his neighbouring systems. That was the reason many daemons called him Anathema. His power was so poisonous to Chaos that their only response to him was lethal in intent.

He noted that everything seems easier than before, apparently the R.O.B. entity maintained his promise. He couldn't quantify it precisely, but he was certain he was more powerful then he had ever been before, maybe twice more than he remembered. Even without the psychic amplifying technology of the Golden Throne, without the focusing mechanisms of the Astronomican, he had been able to project his presence more than halfway into the galaxy. This, he knew, was only the beginning if he decided to put trust in the words of such a being.

Satisfied for the moment, he withdrew, limiting himself to the Sol Systems and the neighbouring ones. That should suffice as an advanced warning system should anything have escaped his notice.

He stood up from the chair, leaving the computer on standby, ready to resume work at a moments notice. He levitated the child before exiting the room and heading in the direction of the laboratory. Inside, he left her on one of the empty tables in the room. She would remain in stasis as long as he willed it. He could not afford to wipe her mind clean, the absence of squeamishness in her would be necessary in the case he had need of her talents, but until that moment, this was the best he would offer her.

He left the room and entered what was supposed to be his bedroom, where the bed had been thoughtfully made to accommodate his size. He didn't require sleep, nor food or water, but after his unending vigil that lasted ten millennia, he could afford a nights sleep. Before that though... his eyes traveled to the bookshelf. He supposed he could give that book a try.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The book seemed to be a general summary of his home dimension, the Emperor noted. There were whole sections for each faction, his Imperium, the Eldar, Orks, various xeno species and Chaos.

While he was using his Golden Throne he kept a small part of his mind focused on the happenings of the Materium, so most of the recent history wouldn't be much of a surprise, but the Emperor was curious. Did the book have anecdotes of the past? The origin of some xenos? Perhaps reading it would shed some light on the motivations of those species.

In the beginning, when Mankind started its exploration of the stars, many alien races entered an alliance with the then named Human Confederacy. Those were times when human superiority was assured. It took a long time to perfect warp travel, and in the centuries before a breakthrough was found to make faster than light travel feasible, many offensive and defensive technologies were developed.

It was an age when mankind and xenos lived in peace, both content with the arrangements between each other.

Then the Age of Strife came, warp travel was made impossible and human colonies were left bereft of the protection of the greater Confederacy. It was in that moment that the duplicitous nature of some of the aliens came to light. They didn't hesitate to cast down their former allies, destroying or enslaving the peaceful populations of humanity.

The Emperor had always tried to keep an open mind regarding the aliens, but their traitorous behaviour cemented his future interactions with them from then on. He mourned the few races he had to destroy during the Great Crusade, races that instead of turning their back on them, helped humanity in their time of need. But those were times when indecision lead to disaster and he was left no choice but to condemn them to death. Still, for the most part, his initial impressions were proven true. For every specie that kept to their peace agreement, five more had cast down their allies and if to usher humanity to the golden age he envisioned a few xeno races had to become extinct, then so be it.

He skipped a few pages, before his gaze was attracted to the section about himself.

He felt his eyebrows rise in response. His subjects, and indeed even his sons, didn't know anything about his past. The only one to know him before he stated the War of Unification to reconquer Terra was Malcador himself.

The Emperor involuntarily let out a bark of laughter. Malcador, an untrained psyker child he found during his search for materials in those centuries on Terra that he took in and trained. Malcador the Hero. Malcador, his last friend...

He shook himself. Those were memories that were best left in the past, where they belonged.

He started to read, curious despite himself. As he continued along the chapter, he couldn't help but marvel at some of the fact reported in it.

Of course, many things were false as well. It didn't mention how he almost died of old age after his fourth century of life.

Still, to know about his conception... It was true that many hundreds of shamans killed themselves in a ritual in the desperate hope of creating someone to safeguard humanity from the depredations of Chaos. What it didn't mention was that no matter their intentions, just a mass suicide would accomplish nothing but the release of their souls into the Empyrean.

It was an Old One that contributed the most to his birth. A fragment of an Old One to be sure, but it saw what the shamans were planning and added its essence to their ritual, giving it focus and power where there were none before. It was also that fragment that gave him the secret to his long life.

It was an accepted fact in the Imperium that psykers lived to a longer age than those who didn't possess the talent, unless they died prematurely. But even a psyker as powerful as he was couldn't overcome the limitations of his body. It was the fragment of the Old One, who gradually revealed to him knowledge of his powers during his life, that gave him the needed information to halt his aging and then reverse it.

Nonetheless, the book was proving to be somewhat reliable in its information.

The Emperor closed it, before placing it on the beside table. At the moment he wanted nothing more than sleep, to relax his mind after millennia of ferocious focus. Tomorrow would be the time for more experimenting.

With a last thoughtful look at the book, the Emperor let sleep claim him.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The machines let out a whirr of activated mechanisms as they started to execute their orders.

The Emperor only spared them a glance, knowing they had started the process to create the various materials he needed to construct his armour.

He turned his gaze to the tiny piece of material he had created earlier. The tiny shard of crystallised psychic energy twinkled back at him, as if congratulating him for his success.

It was the same material he had used as the founding blocks for the Golden Throne and the Astronomican. Widely known to the galaxy at large as wraithbone, it was a crystallised mass of purified warp energy, harder to damage than adamantium and it had the added benefit of an innate self-repair mechanism. It was the psychic response to the necrodermis the ancient Eldar came up with eons ago.

The Eldar conjured it by using the Webway as a medium between themselves and the Immaterium. The Webway, a separate and more calm dimension from the Immaterium, siphoned the energy from that chaotic realm and purified it to permit safer travels to the Eldar ships. The Bonesingers then reworked that same energy into physical mass.

The Emperor didn't have the advantage of the Webway on his side, which was why he only managed to produce so little of the material back on Terra, using it as a psychic amplifier for the Golden Throne and the Astronomican.

Now though... now the Sea of Souls lacked the corrupting presence of Chaos in it and he could easily create as much wraithbone as he needed for his purposes.

Even if he didn't have pressing need for an armour, it was always best to be prepared in advance for every possibility.

He left the shard of material on a nearby table, before leaving the workshop.

In the last few days the Emperor never left the underground facility, preferring its solitude to organise his thoughts. That said, it didn't mean he remained idle in that time.

The first thing he decided to do was rid the world of the slumbering Endbringers, each of them resting in a slight separate part of reality from the material plane. Finding them was easy enough, he just had to follow the same trail the active ones left behind to the others. Destroying them however... It wasn't a strain on his abilities, far from that, it was just that the abominations existed in so many parallel dimensions that it took him a few hours to make sure he annihilated every last atom of the things.

Then he proceeded with his 'Culling', as the media of the world had named the mysterious killings of various powerful figures.

The first was Nilbog, who was active in the same country as the Emperor. For that one, he decided to finish him with an artistic flair. What better way to kill that man than to have his monstrous creations do the work for him?

After subjugating the entirety of the things, which left the Emperor in an irritable mood after he found some of them to have tunnelled right under the noses of the PRT, he pointed them at their former master, making his death a long one, just to make the lesson he wanted to impart stick. Then he simply vaporised them. No need to have the beasts run around creating mayhem.

The Echidna girl, Ash Beast, the Three Blasphemies and Moorg Nag were dispatched in a similar vein, in that order.

Noelle had an interesting power, capable of replicating any organic thing that came in contact with her, but ultimately useless, as the replicas she produced were usually horrible mutants.

Ash Beast, the Emperor discovered, kept draining energy from the distant stars in the north of the galaxy, which was unacceptable in the long term, especially as the energy seemed to have reinvigorating effect on his body, essentially rendering him ageless as long as he kept his power functioning.

The other two weren't that much of a problem, especially after he usurped control of the beast Moord Nag was riding and she was trampled to death.

The Sleeper though... the Emperor scowled at the memory of that man. He had the gall to wave at him moments before his atoms were scattered to the winds. Who did that kind of thing?

He let out a sigh as he relaxed in the chair in the Entertainment Room.

He had to plan what to do with this world. Even if he decided to not reveal himself publicly, he still had to ensure a stable government was put in place after he finished this business with the Warrior.

The Emperor sat, pondering this new problem. Then he had an idea. Who better to head the still unborn government of an unified Earth than those who had been pulling the strings for decades behind the scenes?

They had the manpower he sorely needed at the moment, they could procure him resources, they had agents in almost every country in the world and they were keeping the corpse of one of the abominations.

He could finish two points of his plan in one move. Aquire agents and destroy the corpse.

The Emperor stood up. He was going to meet Cauldron.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The Warp was a confusing place, chaotic and without rules.

Still, the skilled psyker could come to understand its nature after decades of rigorous practice.

It had no limits, no end or beginning in sight, but it had borders. Directions had no meaning, but it could be navigated.

As its name, the Immaterium, implied, it was the metaphysical representation of the material universe.

Every living, thinking being produced waves with each action they took. Be they major or minor, these waves united together to give the Empyrean its everchanging nature and skilled practitioners could dedicate their life to understanding and translating its fluctuations to divine the possible futures.

It didn't matter how subtle the Entities thought themselves, their actions and those of their shards left obvious signs of their passage to the Emperor, enough for him to follow their trail directly to the source.

He focused his mind, navigating the Immaterium, following the energy left behind by a particular shard and discovering which of the nearby dimensions Cauldron had appropriated for its base of operations.

It was challenging, in the beginning, to properly feel the parallel dimensions that existed alongside Earth Bet. The Emperor had never encountered such phenomenon in his home universe, as such it took him a bit of time to feel secure in his ability to reach them.

Nonetheless, he forged ahead with the same determination that allowed him to withstand ten millennia of psychic assaults, and managed to spread tendrils of his power in those places too.

Once he had a strong enough focus on the dimension in question, he gathered his power and formed a swirling portal.

It led directly into the Warp, an intermediate destination until he was more sure of this new application to his power. It was as if reality fractured in from of him, opening in a rift lined with his own burning golden energy, restraining the Immaterium from spilling forth.

The sight alone would have driven a normal man insane with just a glance. The ever drifting currents of the immaterial realm, with colors that did and didn't exist, images of futures and past merged together to form pictures that couldn't be described.

The Emperor was not a normal man. He was the pinnacle of human evolution, he had mastered his physical body millennia ago, his psychic presence outshined every human being combined. He had fought with beings that would inspire such existential terror that some died just by glimpsing them and directly defied them.

He stepped through, closing the portal behind him. He calmly felt around him, ever vigilant for potential danger. When he found none, he opened another portal, this time to the dimension he had found earlier.

What greeted him was a replica of Terra, and the Emperor was sure that a few decades ago it would have looked as if humans had never set foot upon its soil.

Now Africa house a sprawling complex and the Emperor could see, with his transhuman vision, vast facilities in the distance, all connected to each other by portals.

It was nothing compared to the splendour and size of his Imperial Palace, but the Emperor couldn't help but be impressed by the lengths Cauldron had gone. Evidently, not having to worry about neighbours had left them with ample space to build specialised facilities for every project they had running.

He floated himself up in the air, slightly bending light to obscure his approach while he extended his presence to the entire planet, cataloguing the various employees...

 _...a Balance vial this should be ready for selling..._

 _...multiple arms, risks of mutation rising with each passing day..._

 _...final stage of completing my algorithm..._

The abomination was located deep in the base, its presence weak in the Immaterium. It was dead, this he knew, but apparently even without a conscious mind to direct them its shards kept working, even if their energy reserves would dry up without nourishment.

Various levels contained mutated humans, subjected to untested concoctions that would forcibly create a link between the human and a shard of the Thinker. Even if the Emperor found the practice revolting, he knew that Cauldron didn't have any other means to safely test their product and forcibly restrained himself ending their lives. In their initial plan they would be used as a trump card against the Warrior, but now, with his presence, their lives had been wasted.

No matter, the Emperor thought to himself. They had given their lives for the betterment of mankind, if nothing else, they hadn't suffered in vain.

Dropping his cloaking, he teleported himself in the structure, following the psychic signature of who he knew to be Doctor Mother, discussing with The Number Man.

Contessa wasn't present, he already felt her movements in Asia. Alexandria was in her civilian persona, while Legend and Eidolon were in their respective Protectorate branches, supervising the movements of the other parahumans.

As he walked towards the direction of a meeting room he had gleaned from the residents, he passed an aide that stopped in his tracks upon laying in eyes upon his glowing body.

"Call your superiors to the meeting room two corridors from here, we have much to discuss." The Emperor's voice cut through the silence of the hallway, its rumbling quality startling the man with the sheer command present in it.

Unconsciously straightening his spine, the man rushed out a "Yes, Sir!", before bolting from the corridor.

The Emperor kept his pace, before entering in a sterile room. A window took the whole wall in front of the door, giving the occupants a view of the green plains outside. The furniture was white and spartan, with a long table with chairs arranged around it.

He walked to the head of the table and after dubiously glancing at the chair, he conjured a wraithbone one that would fit his massive frame. He sat, facing the door, and waited.


	10. Interlude (Rebecca Costa-Brown)

**A/N:** In this chapter the Emperor will be talking and I wanted to point out something. In an earlier chapter we see him say something to Riley and it was written like 'this'. In this chapter he will talk like ' **this'**. It's because the Emperor sounds normal to his ears but from another POV his voice is felt more potently, what with his charisma and psychic presence.

 **Interlude**

Rebecca relaxed back in her chair, giving a disgusted look at the pile of paperwork laying completed on her desk.

It didn't seem to matter that computer technology was present in almost every house in the world, the pencil pushers and bureaucrats from Washington still wanted everything in triplicates and paper.

She put that thought out of her mind and mentally went over her schedule for the rest of the day. In middle afternoon Alexandria was due an appearance in the Protectorate HQ, then back in the office and finally a quick trip to see if everything was going smoothly on Doctor Mother's side.

If they trusted the words of the Thinkers on their payroll, then Cauldron had at the very least two years before Scion decided to be done with humanity and started to destroy the earth. They didn't know exactly what would be causing such a shift in his behaviour, but they were doing all they could to avert the disaster.

It was initially estimated that they would have a decade before it happened. Now they had to accelerate their plans if they wanted humanity to have a chance of surviving.

With a bang, her office door was pushed open, admitting her breathless secretary, Jennifer.

Rebecca shot to her feet, a scowl on her face.

"What's the meaning of this?!", she barked out.

Jennifer averted her eyes, but still didn't offer any apologies for her abrupt entrance, in fact, her entire face was covered by a vicious smile. "Ma'am, we just receive the news! The Slaughterhouse Nine are dead!"

It took only a moment for the information to be processed, before her expression closed down.

"I want a report of the situation on my desk as soon as possible! Move!"

The secretary nodded, smile still in place. "The news is all over the television, ma'am, we didn't manage to keep it under wraps for long, but I'll have it momentarily as soon as the police finishes their preliminary report". She left the room and closed the door behind her, a bounce to her steps.

Outwardly, Rebecca Costa-Brown showed nothing but her legendary calm. She had commanded PRT squads from her office in dangerous situations and never once had anyone seen her break her composure.

Inwardly, Alexandria was fuming.

The Slaughterhouse Nine may not be the most powerful of parahumans, but they knew themselves and their powers. They wouldn't be caught off guard and no rookie could ever get the drop on them.

She didn't even consider the PRT troops as candidates for their deaths.

Who could have done this? Eidolon and Legend were accounted for, in fact, every parahuman of the Protectorate was accounted for. A new trigger? Possible, but unlikely. No one that new to their powers could have killed all the members of the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Rebecca restrained herself from flying out the window and going to see the scene for herself. Did this parahuman even know what they had just done? Multiple plans hanged on the presence of the Nine, not to mention their uses in causing trigger events everywhere they went. It was a despicable tactic, to allow their sickening behaviour to continue, but the world needed more parahumans and if she had to sacrifice hundreds for a potentially powerful cape, she hardened her heart and gave the order.

She settled down in her chair and started the computer. She didn't know who managed this feat, but by God as her witness, it better be someone who could offer as much as the Nine to the survival of humanity and not a fluke of luck, or she would have words with this one.

 **oOo**

Clad in her costume, a black and grey one with a skirt, knee-high boots and elbow length gloves with a tower emblazoned on her chest, Alexandria strode the hallways of Cauldron's base, her cape swirling behind her with each step.

She held her helmed in her left arm, unconcerned with protecting her identity in this facility, where she knew only trusted people were allowed entrance.

Alexandria entered a meeting room, seeing her fellow members of the Triumvirate already inside, Doctor Mother at the head of the table, Contessa behind her as per usual.

As she swept in the room, she voiced a question. "Where is The Number Man?"

It was Doctor Mother who answered, "He had business in Boston, I'm afraid he will not be able to join us today."

She nodded, before taking a seat at the table.

Doctor Mother gazed at each of them, before resting it on her. "What do we know of the situation with the Slaughterhouse Nine?"

Alexandria allowed a grimace on her face. "Nothing to point us toward the culprit, I'm afraid. All the members except for Bonesaw and the Siberian are accounted for and the only reason for their deaths seems to be heavy brain damage, nothing conclusive."

Legend raised his head from the bowed position he had previously. "What of Crawler, did he regenerate from it?"

Eidolon didn't say anything, but she could sense his curiosity.

"No, and that's one of the most confusing parts. We know he managed to regenerate from brain wounds before, but this time he died like the others", she slowly shook her head, "Permanently."

Legend stood up from his chair, a frown visible even under the mask. "I'll be leaving for New York, I have to assess the situation as the leader of the Protectorate, make sure my Wards don't get cocky now that one S-Class threat is no longer a danger." He nodded to each of them before exiting the room and she could hear his muffled voice calling "Door" before he disappeared.

The Doctor turned to her again, "Now, what do we really know?"

"Bonesaw is unaccounted for, she disappeared without a trace, though from witness reports we know she teleported out right before the others died."

"What of Manton?"

The only sign of her frustration was the tightening of her fists. "The police found him a few hours ago in a van. No signs of struggle, his case is being archived as we speak."

Eidolon flinched and the Doctor released a sigh of frustration. "His projection was one we were counting on. Its help against Scion would have been invaluable...", she looked at Contessa, whose expression was serene as ever, "Path to find the culprit?"

"It's another blind spot. I cannot find him."

The Doctor inhaled sharply. "Another?"

Contessa nodded.

"Very well. Until we have more information, keep going as usual. This was a blow to our forces but we still have time to recover", the Doctor stood up and nodded to them. A clear sign of dismissal if there ever was one.

Alexandria stood up as well and exited the room before her cry of 'Door' opened a portal leading to the Protectorate HQ. This might have been a setback in their plans, but there was still work to be done.

 **oOo**

She stalked down the corridor in a towering rage, her very footsteps creating cracks in the floor as she walked.

Rebecca didn't even announce herself before she ploughed right through the door, her advance not impeded by the three inches of thick metal.

"What the hell is going on?!", she ground out.

Doctor Mother was sitting at her desk with her face in her hands, The Number Man was gazing in the distance, probably integrating these new developments in his calculations. Contessa, as usual, was unfazed.

She received a glare from the Doctor for her entrance, before the heat subsided and she slumped her shoulders. "What is going on is that someone, who is a blank spot in Contessa's power, is killing every powerful parahuman villain we have kept alive to this day for the fight with Scion. I...", she threw her hands up at the ceiling, "This is a disaster!"

She stood up and began to pace from one end of the room to the other. "Everything we worked for, every sacrifice we made in the name of the survival, every time we left those despicable people live another day, fight another fight, kill someone else, all, WASTED!"

Rebecca inwardly flinched. She had never seen the Doctor so out of sorts before. She had always seemed to have the situation in hand, a plan for every circumstance, the right words to convince people to join them. Now... now she was seeing her for what she was. A woman who had spent decades of her life with the survival of the human race in mind, performing atrocities and condoning others for doing the same, all with a purpose in mind. Only for all she had managed to create to crumble down in the course of days.

Nilbog, the Sleeper, the Three Blasphemies, Moord Nag, Ash Beast. One after another, powerful parahumans that could give them a chance of victory against the Entity, dead.

The 'Culling', as the media called it, started just after the deaths of the Nine. The world was holding its breath after the death of the Sleeper. Was this it? Was it finished? Would the perpetrator switch targets from villains to heroes? The method of disappearance varied between cases, but no one believed it to be coincidence all those death happened one after another.

Rebecca really wanted to hit something.

 **oOo**

It was the day after her scene at Cauldron that she received an urgent message from the Doctor. 'Urgent, come here ASAP.'

She didn't question it, it had never happened before and whatever shook the Doctor had to be important.

She politely ended the meeting between PRT Directors she was holding, citing an incident in the HQ, before she called out 'Door' and entered full speed the half-formed portal.

She found herself in front of the Doctor, Contessa by her side, with The Number Man questioning a pale and sweating aide.

"-know! I told you everything I could remember, he just said to give you a message!"

The Doctor pinned the aide with a hard gaze before nodding slowly. "Return to your post Richard, and do not speak of this to anyone." As the aide scurried away she took a deep breath before turning to her.

Rebecca didn't know what exactly was happening, but she could make an educated guess. An intruder in their base had given a message for them and was probably waiting behind the door they stood in front of.

"An intruder appeared in this facility fifteen minutes ago. Our sensors didn't find him until then and our thinkers still cannot give us any information on him", she paused to take a deep breath, "We didn't find him, he let us find him." She took a moment to meet each of their eyes in turn, stressing the importance of what she just said. "We have no information on his powers nor his motivation for this meeting, but since he didn't attack we can assume he is peaceful, for the moment. We will hear what he has to say and then will decide what course of action to take. Am I clear?"

David arrived while the Doctor was talking and remained silent.

Rebecca nodded. This was not a normal situation, where she could go in confident of her power. This stranger managed to infiltrate a secure facility riddled with monitoring equipment in another dimension devoid of human life, they didn't know his power and couldn't make rushed decisions.

She took the lead, at least confident that if an attack waited on the other side of the door, she could protect those behind her.

What she would find on the other side would change Rebecca's life forever and nothing would ever be the same.

 **oOo**

The first thing the noticed was Him.

Taller than them even while seated, she calculated His height at 13 feet at the very least.

Bronze skin, filled with rippling and sculpted muscles, she didn't doubt that the Man could break her with His finger. He sat on a throne made of a strange opaque white material and she could see small veins of colour snake their way through it. He wore a simple button down shirt, with the first buttons left open and black silken pants while His feet were left bare.

His black hair was shoulder length and seemed to wave in an unseen wind, His nose was aquiline and His lips were stretched in a small amused smile.

He was giving off a soft golden glow, His form impossibly perfect.

His eyes were two pools of deep brown, and as soon as she looked at them she got an impression of an indomitable Will and unrestrained, pure, burning power.

All of this her formidable mind registered in the span of a second, cataloguing every inch she could see of Him. Rebecca didn't know why, but as soon as she saw Him, her heart started to beat faster, filled with a new vigour His mere presence seemed to gift her.

" **Welcome, please, be seated.** "

His voice, a rumble that shook her entire world, was filled with unparalleled charisma and had a commanding tone to it.

She didn't trust Him.

She didn't trust the reactions of her body, the effect He had on her mind. But she followed the example of the others, seating herself at the table, before turning her gaze to Him.

" **In the last few days I endeavoured to remove many of the threats that plague humanity. The Sleeper, the Nine and many others... including the seventeen hibernating Endbringers, waiting for deployment.** "

The entire sentence was so absurd it sounded true. She didn't want to, but she couldn't doubt His word, not when the look in His eyes promised absolute seriousness. Even Doctor Mother, who looked ready to explode at His claim of having destroyed her life's work, blanched at the mention of other Endbringers.

Seventeen Endbringers... she felt faint, even through she couldn't be due to her powers. The entire might of the world's parahumans struggled against three, what would they do against more?

" **In the coming weeks I shall remove the Simurgh, as she is the most dangerous of the three, and the others will fall as well.** "

How could He talk so casually about destroying Endbringers? They were named such for a reason. It didn't matter what they used against them, there was no victory, only defeat, and the times they managed to chase them away from cities it felt like they were allowed to do so, much like a game.

"He is telling the truth", confirmed David softly, his eyes never leaving Him.

Contessa, while never loosing her calm façade, had a tremor in her voice. "It's Him, my blind spot".

The Man nodded, before continuing. " **After the situation with the Endbringers is dealt with, I shall turn my attention to dispatching the Warrior, commonly known as Scion.** "

The silence that met His proclamation was absolute. No one wanted to comment, to say how such a thing was impossible. And yet... David confirmed it, He was saying the truth. He had killed dangerous parahumans from around the world in the course of days, He denied the other Endbringers the chance to threaten the earth, could He really have such a power? Rebecca's mind boggled at trying to understand it while her very soul resonated with His words. Such level of power... it was like the Warrior, for all they prepared, they didn't know what he was capable of.

" **For the moment, the abomination is content to play the hero, so I shall leave it alone until the appropriate time has come for his end. Meanwhile, you will be focusing on increasing diplomatic relations between countries, with the end goal of creating a unified government for mankind.** "

He turned His gaze to each of them and when it was Rebecca's turn, she found only determination in His eyes.

He stood up. " **I shall leave you to start planning your part of the operation, if you have need of me, I shall be studying the corpse of the other Entity.** "

As He left the room, Rebecca once more reflected that she didn't trust Him. His claims were preposterous, His plans ambitious and He didn't even hesitate, so sure was He of His success.

Why, then, did she feel her heart almost burst such was the fierce hope she experienced when her eyes landed on Him?


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 _He watched as clouds of smoke started to rise into the sky. A quick scan of the minds around the origin point told him all he needed to know._

 _A couple of wandering tribes were battling for the land and he wanted to stay out of it. He had more important things to do, like retrieving whatever metals he could get his hands on._

 _The armour he had in mind wouldn't be finished until he found more adamantium and considering the scavenging efforts already made by whatever remained of civilisation... he couldn't be sure to find enough._

 _He sighed. Looking around the desolated landscape he had trouble remembering how it was once so very green. Full of forests instead of ruins, lakes instead of holes in the ground._

 _He shook his head. There was no point in thinking about it, not when he sensed a powerful psyker heading where he left his supplies._

 _His presence cloacked and his footsteps light, he carefully crept around the ruins of a building, expecting a fight. The psyker was powerful but untrained, his senses told him, but that didn't mean he would underestimate his opponent._

 _What he found was so baffling it took him a moment to get his bearings._

 _A child, so skinny bones were visible and clothed in what may be graciously called rags was rummaging in his supply bags, having no interest in the metals he had carefully laid out besides his provisions._

 _An amused smile crept unto his face as the child -a boy, he realised- gave a girlish shriek of surprise when his hand lifted him from the scruff of his neck._

 _"Wha- Hey! Let me go!"_

 _His smile still in place, he replied. "And why should I? You were the one going through my belongings, why should I let you leave?"_

 _The boy gave him a sullen glare, not answering._

 _He slowly put the thief down. A frown was starting to form on his face. "Why are you here, all alone? Where is your tribe?"_

 _At that, the boy ducked his head in shame._

 _"Well?"_

 _The boy's head shot up. "I am a witch, I can do things...", he swallowed, but kept going. "I cannot remain with the tribe." His whole posture was rigid, expecting a blow perhaps? His eyes were daring him to insult him, probably like everyone did after the revelation of his psyker nature came about._

 _Instead he smiled cheerfully. "I am a psyker as well."_

 _The boy's eyes widened at his answer, before he scowled. "And who are you anyway?"_

 _He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?"_

 _Scowl still in place, he stuck out his hand and ground out. "My name is Malcador."_

 _He grinned and took the much smaller hand in his. "My name is-"_

"Sir?"

The Emperor shook himself out of the memory, before glancing behind him.

It was Rebecca and though her expression was blank, he could sense the storm of her emotions.

It was a few days after Cauldron's 'change of management' and though some people had had some trouble accepting the change in leadership, the ones who counted were aware of his power and their goals coincided enough that for now they decided to go along with his plans. He had proved his claims and while their relationship was strained at best, they would come to trust him. Eventually.

The Emperor turned back to the screen in front of him, where he was creating the schematics for small scale energy weapons. They wouldn't be extremely advanced but their versatility coupled with their relatively easy method of manufacture could definitely give an edge to the normal humans out there against parahuman enemies.

"You can go now Lawrence. You did a good job."

The aide that was watching the designs in fascination gave a start, before he nodded nervously to them and left the room, closing the door behind himself.

"You have questions", the Emperor stated more than asked.

"I do", she nodded, before placing a book on the desk he was working at.

The Emperor looked at the title, before a sigh escaped him. He turned the chair until he was looking at her and with a little use of his power her very soul was laid bare for him. She shuddered.

He waved a hand at her. "Then ask."

"Are you... are you really Him?"

He gave a slow nod. "I am."

She swallowed, before taking a deep breath and looking him in the eye. "How? How can it be possible? That such a work of fiction could be real..."

The Emperor chuckled, the sound reverberating across the room. He scrutinised her for a moment, before settling himself in a more relaxed position.

"It would seem", he began slowly, "that both of our realities are pieces of fiction somewhere in the infiniteness of the multiverse."

He nodded again to answer her unspoken question. "I read a novel, back in the second millennium", a lie, but she didn't need to know that, "that perfectly resembles this world."

Silence descended between them.

"Do you want to know more about it?"

Rebecca was outwardly calm, but her soul couldn't lie to him. She was shocked and deeply disturbed by the news. After a moment she clenched her fists and gave her assent.

A soul was made of energy, memories and instincts. Every time a soul was sacrificed to his Golden Throne, he absorbed their energy to replenish his own limited power, but also catalogued their memories, making an oath to himself to never forget those who gave their lives to him.

The last soul he absorbed was no different. Though he may have been presumptuous and arrogant to believe his power could have been his, he still was the victim of a higher power and his gateway to this new chance at life.

With a bit of concentration and a flex of his will, he located the memories of 'Worm' and after carefully editing some contents, opened Rebecca's mind to them.

The process was slow, for he didn't want her mind to be crushed under his own's weight.

Still, when talking about an interaction between minds time was relative and in less than a minute the transfer had been completed.

Rebecca stumbled back a step, her hand flashing to her head in an attempt to sooth a pain that wasn't physical.

It took her a couple of minutes to regain her calm, but her fists were clenched with the power to lift buildings. He could understand her discomfort, after all in those memories she saw her own death.

"It was the work of an entity of extreme power that brought me here. I don't know what its motivation is", another lie, but it was best to leave out the fact her world was used as a playing ground for these R.O.B.s, "but its actions resulted in me arriving in this reality."

"I see."

The silence between them stretched while she went over everything scrap of information he gave her, before her focus returned to him.

"The plan to unite the earth is going well, but it will take months before the first signs will be seen and years before it will bear fruit", she looked at him shrewdly, "and once it's done, this government of yours will need a leader." Her last sentence was said meaningfully, while her gaze remained locked with his own.

The Emperor slowly shook his head. "I won't lie and say I haven't thought about it, but while humanity will always be under my protection, no matter when or in which dimension, I have an obligation to the people in my home."

He pinned her in place with a look when she opened her mouth to retort. "I will help you steer this society into the right direction, give you plans and schematics, assist you in keeping everything working smoothly, but eventually mankind will have to learn to govern itself and I will leave it in your capable hands." And with the various rejuvenation technologies he had at his disposal that could be a very long time indeed.

This was the plan at the start of the Great Crusade. While he and his sons were a step above humanity, it didn't mean they had the right to govern them. He had planned to slowly relinquish control to the High Lords of Terra and once the galaxy was under human control he could finally step aside. It had an auspicious beginning, Malcador kept the High Lords in line and his example would allow a just society to form around them.

Now... If he ever got back to his home the High Lords would know of his displeasure.

In this dimension though, humanity hadn't suffered the treachery of the xenos, they hadn't degraded to the dark ages, they weren't under the oppressive rule of Chaos. This people could prosper, they didn't need a shining figure to lead them through a galaxy thirsting for human blood.

The Emperor stood up and prepared himself for the fight to come.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have a bird to bring down to earth."

In a swirl of psychic energy, the Emperor tore a whole in reality and made a beeline to the angelic being floating serenely in the space above Terra.


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Of all the active Endbringers, the Emperor thought the Simurgh as the more dangerous.

She wasn't as destructive as Behemoth, nor as fast as Leviathan, but her own powers rendered her capable of dodging attacks before they began, tear the minds of those around her to shreds, divine the future and manipulate innocent people to irrational actions in the future.

While the other Endbringers caused catastrophes and destruction wherever they went, the Simurgh planned.

She used people like a chess master, positioning her pieces until her plans came into being after she was gone. The Emperor also had the suspicion she was the one designating the targets for the others.

Still, her powers weren't of supernatural origin. She didn't see the future, but she created complex and finely detailed approximations of possible futures based on complicated mathematic formulae.

She continuously scanned the planet and took everything into account, so that her picture of the future became more detailed.

Despite being immune to her precognition, the Emperor had to take her down first. How do you see something you can't see? By not seeing it in the first place. The Simurgh may not be capable of seeing him directly, but she could see the waves he made in the web of the future and by tracing them back to their origins she could divine something was amiss.

She couldn't act overtly against him, but she could engineer chaos and destruction wherever he went.

The first thing the Emperor did after appearing invisible behind the creature was to surround her in his own psychic energy, before forcefully teleporting both of them to a uninhabited dimension Cauldron had pointed out to him.

She couldn't hope to match him, but that didn't mean she couldn't interfere in the minds of the planet below before he managed to destroy her.

As soon as they arrived, he distanced himself from her, keeping himself afloat in the atmosphere of the parallel Terra.

As he did so, her eyes swung in his direction.

The Emperor nodded to himself. She couldn't see his past or future, but she could still perceive him by using her physical body.

She began emitting her famous psychic scream and the Emperor took a moment to analyse its properties. She was, using her advanced telekinesis, vibrating the air such that the pitch of the sound would interfere with the people around her.

Seeing it wasn't affecting him, she launched herself down at the planet below, never taking her eyes from his form while she began to tear great chucks of the earth asunder.

"These are your final moments, creature! You will no longer threaten those under my protection!", the Emperor ground out. He wanted her to know that this was the end and he was going to pay her back for the suffering she spread to this day.

The Emperor didn't let her go far, teleporting himself in an intercepting course while simultaneously conjuring his own weapon of choice. For this battle he didn't need his armour, his flesh and powers were enough.

A sword of pure thought, its impossibly sharp edge his own rage against the enemies of mankind, its toughness his iron will and determination to succeed, the metal was a bright glowing gold, the Imperial Aquila as its cross-guard and it was sheathed in psychic fire. It was appropriately sized to his physique and its familiar weight brought a grin to the Emperor's face.

With this blade he had struck down Ork Warbosses and hundreds of thousands of their kin, he had cleaved entire armies of Eldar with his Companions beside him. It was time for it to once more taste the flesh of the enemies of humanity.

As he got closer to her, he swung, taking off her right arm at the elbow where she lifted it to block his attack and the airborne limb started to disintegrate. Even as he moved, his superhuman vision could already detect signs of rapid regeneration.

He moved to her back at a speed she couldn't follow without her clairvoyance and grabbed one of her wings in his left hand before unleashing a wave of burning warp-fyre that immediately scorched the entire limb before dying out slightly, but still burning her back and spreading inexorably to her flesh.

While a part of his mind focused on the physical battle, another part was negating her telekinesis, her own efforts more powerful than the last.

Soon, seeing her efforts to rupture the terrain were ineffectual, she started to create telekinetic barriers of dense air and condensed energy to limit his movements.

He didn't let it deter him, infusing his own body with his psychic might he shattered those barriers and redoubled his efforts. He had to get her distracted enough that she couldn't stop him from reaching her core and purging her from existence.

The Emperor flexed his will and around them portals to the Immaterium opened, obfuscating her sight even further, encumbering her as her structured and inflexible mind desperately tried to understand the realm where logic and physics had no right to exist.

Seeing that his efforts were beginning to take their toll on the abomination, the Emperor sped his attacks even further.

Divining her reactions with the aid of the Warp, he blocked a telekinetic bolt of pure force aimed at his throat before swinging his sword at a speed faster than before, cutting her legs off at the knees before destroying the limbs with a burst of psychic energy.

The Simurgh was a sorry sight compared to her normal appearance. Her right arm had regrown to her wrist while the warp-fyre on her back had eaten all of her wings. Despite that she remained airborne, her own telekinesis keeping her in flight. Her legs were starting to grow back but the regeneration speed was noticeably slower than before.

Her reactions were faltering. Her senses trying to decipher the impossibility of the Immaterium and her focus split between her telekinetic attacks and the regrowth of her limbs.

Seeing she was suitably distracted, the Emperor lunged at her open midriff with his sword pointed at her pale flesh.

She crossed her arms in the path of the blade, while she interposed even more barriers trying to stall his advance. At the last moment, the Emperor dismissed the blade and grabbed her with his hands, his left resting atop her platinum white hair while his right kept her arms immobilised.

It took her a fraction of a second to understand their new position, but that second was all the Emperor needed for his power to keep her from moving, all the while interfering with her own defensive attacks.

He focused on her, past the layers of ever stronger crystalline flesh and barriers before finally locating her core where the stomach of a normal human would rest.

The Emperor lifted his left hand from her head before coating his hand with his power and spearing right through her body, his proximity to her only vulnerable spot making her struggle ever fiercer.

It didn't matter though. Now that he had pinpointed the source of her power, he concentrated and let loose lance of pure energy, using her own powers against her.

Her core existed in various parallel dimensions and she used that to move energy between them as needed. The Emperor used that same connection and linked the cores together, allowing his attack to reach all of them simultaneously.

Even in death, the angelic face didn't betray any emotions, retaining its usual regal bearing.

The Emperor disengaged from the Endbringer, floating a few feet away from the crumbling creature.

Its skin was dissolving, little by little, until nothing was left.

He didn't relax though. The alien couldn't compare to the Gods of Chaos in term of power, but she was subtle and he had to make sure every last piece of her was destroyed.

Releasing his hold on his power, the Emperor began to glow even more brighter than before. He spread his awareness to the Empyrean, augmenting his sensing abilities even further. All of the dimensions he had found her in were scanned, looking for a trace left behind in her death throes.

When he found nothing, the Emperor recalled his power back to himself.

It seemed the xeno hadn't managed to find a way to resurrect itself. Satisfied with his findings, he looked at the surface of the planet below.

While their battle had never left the air, their telekinetic struggles had left a mark on the continent below. Mountains were crushed under their power and deep chasms had been created, where lava was beginning to fill in.

The Emperor shook his head, it had been a good decision to take their battle to an uninhabited planet. What could have happened on Terra, where the Simurgh could have affected parahumans to come to her rescue?

With a last look at the devastation below, he teleported himself back to Cauldron's base. There was still work to be done.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The room he was in stretched for miles in every direction to surround the corpse of the Thinker and it still wasn't enough to contain all of it. He knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there were similar setups in the various dimensions her body stretched into.

From the walkway high up in the cavernous room in the depths of the complex, the Emperor watched as teams of Cauldron's operatives dug into the mass below. It was composed of grey flesh, interrupted by bulbous protrusions and colourful growths, there were spots where structures had been anchored for teams to work on it.

Clad in safety gear, they were digging in previously unexplored places, where the Emperor had pointed out the location of interesting powers that would be useful to sell.

Previously they were advancing blindly, trying to figure out the order of the Entity's powers, but now that he could point out what to look for production had sped up.

Without turning, the Emperor spoke. "David, what brings you here?"

David was wearing his iconic costume but without the mask, his hood pulled back to reveal a contemplative expression on his face. He stepped beside him and looked down at the people hard at work.

"What do you intend to do with it?", he asked, indicating with an incline of his head the twisted flesh beneath them.

The Emperor hummed. "The question", he said, "is whether I should destroy it now or let it die on his own in time."

David lifted an eyebrow in question.

"Should I eliminate whatever remains of the Entity, all the powers you sold will stop functioning."

He added, "And yes, that means those of the Triumvirate as well."

"Why haven't you?", his voice shook, perhaps thinking that once his power gave out his illness would return.

The Emperor let out a sigh. "To be honest, it was my intention to do so immediately, but without a conscious to guide them these agents are completely under human control and while it remains that way it is an acceptable risk for the abilities they gift mankind."

David nodded, "I see."

"Still, that doesn't change one fact, these agents are running on finite energy and once it is depleted they won't work anymore. That's the difference between the powers you sell and those of 'natural triggers'. The Warrior even now is draining the life of the local sun in some dimensions away and keeps replenishing his energy to distribute to his shards.", he looked at David from the corner of his eyes, "You are experiencing what everyone will in the future. Your powers are waning, having less and less energy to use as time goes on, until one day... the shard will be left without nourishment and die."

David's fists were clenched and his shoulders trembling under his cloak, but he straightened his spine and looked the Emperor in the eye. "I helped thousands of people in my career, defending cities from the Endbringers and capturing psychopaths with power they never should have had in the first place."

He turned his head away. "I admit having all that power at my fingertips again is something I wish everyday. At every Endbringer fight I find myself thinking, 'what if I was faster, stronger, what if I had a better power at my disposal to save those who fell'... but I don't regret the path I've walked. Everything I did was for the possibility of a future that seemed unreachable, if it takes losing my power to have that... I will make that sacrifice."

The Emperor turned and scrutinised him, before nodding to himself. "And that's why I'm giving you your power back. If you wanted it solely for selfish reasons I wouldn't do this, but I know you won't disappoint me."

David had only a moment to look surprised and a little hopeful before the Emperor's left hand engulfed his head.

He focused his senses on the connection between the shard and David until he could feel what lay at the other end. Then he opened the connection wide and started to filter his own psychic energy into that link, empowering the diminished piece of the Thinker until it positively glowed under the power he gifted it.

Waiting a moment to check that the process had no unwanted effects, the Emperor withdrew and lifted his hand from David.

He gasped before falling to his knees, the rush of power overwhelming, until he staggered to his feet once more. David looked at his hands, clenching and unclenching as he felt his power respond to his thoughts with a speed that he hadn't felt in years.

"I... Thank you", he said gratefully.

The Emperor smiled, "It was nothing beyond my capabilities. Now go, I think you have some acclimatising to do."

David shook his head, a small laugh bubbling from his lips, before he nodded and with a quick application of his new power, teleported away.

 **oOo**

The Emperor carefully moulded his energy until he felt it was condensed enough, then he carefully started layering that same energy on the pieces of armour strewn on the worktable before him.

This was a process that would take a few days to complete no matter his skills. The metals that would compose his armour had to be left alone for this process, so that the energy could soak into the material, binding it and strengthening it even more than it already was.

While the armour was mostly ornamental, since he could protect himself with his psychic power, it still served a purpose. It would be easy to identify him on the battlefield and it had several technologies, ranging from scanners to vox casters in various frequencies and even some efficient force field generators. Thanks to his arrival in this reality, he had been able to design these devices using Golden Age technology, some that even he knew not how to replicate before, giving them a definite advantage over those he built himself before the Great Crusade. Additionally, he had been able to implement wraithbone in its schematics, placed in strategic points to support the armour and heightening its defensive capabilities.

It was still a long way from being completed, since he still had to build the devices in question, but the metals were all ready and once the binding process was complete he could start to mould them into armour pieces.

He was interrupted from his work by a knock at the door.

"Enter", he called out.

Contessa walked in, suit immaculate as ever and a placid expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"The project is going well but there is still tension between the various governments and for the moment whatever plans were beginning to be put in place are stalled. The disappearance of the Simurgh is partly to blame for this", there was no judgement in her tone and no accusation. They all knew that the removal of the angel was of great importance and that their plan could continue once waters started to calm. "Many are jubilant and some are pushing for it to be made a national holiday, but many are paranoid. They think she is hiding and waiting to lull us into a false sense of security only to start attacking again when we will not expect it."

The Emperor nodded, "Understandable, she is known to be the most subtle of the three and the one most feared after all. Maybe Alexandria could call a press conference and announce her demise?"

Contessa looked into the distance for a moment, probably running a hypothetical Path for that circumstance. Then she nodded, "It could work, but it would raise more questions than before if we don't give the public some information about it."

He leaned back in the chair, a pensive frown etched on his features. He drummed his fingers on the table, mulling over the situation, before he reached a decision. "The Triumvirate should take credit for it, obviously, and the reveal of an anonymous parahuman with the ability to travel between dimensions would solve the question of where their battle took place. It still doesn't give much information but it should be enough to-", the Emperor paused before bolting to his feet, and expression of severe concentration on his face.

Contessa recoiled from the sharp movement. "What is it?"

The Emperor answered absently, all his focus entirely on the anomaly that suddenly appeared to his senses.

"It's... another Entity."

He paid no mind to her paling and calling in the only member of the Triumvirate on the base.

He had felt this just moments before, a new presence in his range reflecting in the Immaterium. Just on the eastern edge of the galaxy an Entity had started to travel, and if he read the currents of the Warp correctly, right in the direction of Terra. Its speed was relatively slow to what he knew them capable to be, but if left to its own devices it would reach the Segmentum Solar in less than a week. He couldn't help but feel he had encountered this creature in some form before, but he didn't have enough information to divine more.

The Emperor focused a moment on the Warp, taking its energies inside of himself before purifying them, conjuring a wraithbone armour over his entire body, layering the material over and over until he felt satisfied.

For this battle he didn't need the devices he had planned to create and the wraithbone should provide a good defence against the newest abomination.

As he returned his attention to the room, he noticed a grim Alexandria entering.

It was as he looked toward Contessa that something clicked into place in the Emperor's mind. The Entity was familiar because he had been in contact with a piece of it for some time now.

"It's you", he said, looking at her.

At their confused expressions, he elaborated. "The Entity is the one that created your agent, Contessa. It's coming for your Path to Victory." He could see the effect of his words on them, shocking them.

"Keep the situation stable while I'm gone, the-", he was interrupted by Alexandria, her analytical mind already devising plans to combat this new, powerful threat.

"What can we do to help?"

The Emperor gathered his power, preparing himself to teleport over such a large distance, "The battle will take place in vacuum and none of you can survive there for a prolonged period of time", he looked all of them in the eye before adding, "I need you to stay here, to monitor Scion for any sign of him having noticed his brethren and to be ready in case of attack."

He took a moment to reorient his senses on the abomination, calculating its trajectory.

The Emperor took a breath, before slowly starting to loosen the hold he had on his power. He knew his eyes were glowing with eldritch energies and his wraithbone armour was letting out a soft sound, more akin to music than anything else.

He looked one last time at the others, before offering them a nod they returned. With a flex of his power, he teleported, all his attention focused on the battle ahead.


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The most common misconception about psykers was that their powers came directly from the Warp.

While not false, it was not entirely true either.

The true power of the psyker came from their souls and the strength of their mind.

It was a shame, then, that most psykers didn't have souls strong enough to use their abilities for long periods of time. If they were disciplined enough though, they could tap into the infinite energy of the Immaterium to replenish their reserves to keep using their abilities, provided they could resist to the constant attacks of the daemons on the other side.

The Emperor had no such problems. He was the union of multiple souls and the Old One's incredible power was added during his conception. Additionally, he was old. He had spent more than forty thousand years expanding his abilities and fortifying his mind against Chaos, leaving him with incredibly vast reserves and the ability to draw immense amount of energy from the Warp.

In this universe though, his powers were further heightened by the lack of the Four to combat him. He could freely draw from the Immaterium as much energy as he could safely handle, for while he was powerful, the ever changing nature of the Empyrean mutated everything it came into contact with, limiting the Emperor to the amount he could use if he didn't want to be changed into something completely unrecognisable.

The Emperor appeared in the vacuum of space, the deadly environment not affecting his body, imbued as it was with his psychic energies.

In the distance was a yellow sun with five other planets in its orbit and from what the Emperor could tell only one of those planets could support human life while the others were barren lumps of rock.

The Entity was at the moment spiralling around the sun, siphoning off the energy needed for his travel, twisting upon itself and moving in patterns to absorb as much energy as possible. It was the size of a large planet, increasing and diminishing every second, phasing between dimensions to maintain its velocity.

The Emperor was on guard. He remembered vividly the last time he battled a creature with such power in the material realm and that fight against the shard of the Void Dragon had crippled him for years. He was young, back then, arrogant in his power, sure that he was the most powerful being on Terra.

This time he wouldn't make the same mistakes and underestimate his opponent.

For the first time in this universe, the Emperor let his power flow freely, undoing its bindings and spreading his presence in the Immaterium at his full potential.

In the Materium, the only thing that changed was that his entire body was enveloped in a golden aura, distorting the nearby space with its reality warping effects.

In the Immaterium his soul, previously a bright star shining its light in its surroundings, now burned with the ferocity of a thousand suns, imposing its power in the Sea of Souls, bending it to his will.

The Emperor opened the battle with a spear of destructive energy, which sped in the vacuum of space until it impacted the hide of the Entity, exploding in a ball of psychic fire, burning whatever it touched.

Immediately the Entity changed its movements, masses of flesh retreating inward and in parallel dimensions to protect his most powerful shards.

The next instant the Emperor had to dodge an incoming attack and as it passed by him he could identify it as antimatter.

He teleported directly above the creature, his sword manifesting in his right hand with but a thought, and swung at the flesh below, tearing into it without resistance thanks to the properties of his weapon. He teleported right after the attack and swung once again, before repeating the cycle, targeting the powerful precognitive shards he could sense. The Entity couldn't perceive him in its simulations of the future, but it could certainly predict his attacks if its shards managed to create an accurate assessment of his tactics.

The Emperor lifted his left hand and unleashed a powerful current of psychic lightning at the creature, it reached its target in moments, before traveling through the Entity's body, paralysing its movements for precious seconds.

His own precognition alerted him of the danger just moments before it reached him. The Emperor dodged the attack by a slim margin, but it still managed to impact his left arm. While he was still orienting himself, a bolt of pure force slammed into him from behind, launching him to the planet closest to their battle.

As he impacted the surface and went through dozens of feet of rock below it, the Emperor cursed his inattentiveness. In the heat of battle he hand't paid enough attention to what the abomination was doing in the parallel dimensions it existed in, and it cost him.

The Emperor teleported himself above the ground, floating himself above it. He glanced at his left arm, where the wraithbone armour was already repairing itself from the minor scratches it suffered. His own arm, however, was pulped in its entirety.

With a grimace, he stopped the flow of blood and diverted his psychic energies into the arm, regenerating it in mere moments.

He glared at the advancing creature, its wounds were showing signs of healing, but he knew that those shards would be unusable unless it managed to escape and heal itself.

He launched himself across the distance, sword held high. The creature responded by launching even more exotic energies at him, trying to pin him into place to destroy him.

Moments before they would have impacted him, the Emperor crossed dimensions and swung his sword deep into the flesh of the Entity, which, judging by the lack of defensive shards in this part of its body, didn't expect him to have the ability to reach it. His sword let out a blast of psychic fire, engulfing large swaths of flesh in it, burning it from existence. As he teleported himself away, he could feel various shards rearranging themselves in response.

He appeared where the battle started and repaid the Entity for what it did to him before.

He shaped his psychic power into a wave of irresistible force and directed it at the Entity, taking it in the middle of its mass and sending the creature soaring into the sun. The speed it was traveling at didn't let it react before it was too late. Several parts of its body were on fire by the proximity to the star and others were blackened by the temperature.

It wouldn't be enough, this he knew. It probably had some shards that could manipulate heat in some fashion, but the initial surprise would at the very least destroy some of its shards before it could use them.

The creature was powerful, extremely so, and the Emperor wasn't sure he could have killed it even at his prime. Now though he was more powerful than before and it would be a matter of time before he managed it.

Still, the battle was at a stalemate. Everything the Entity could do to him he could easily heal or protect himself against, and his every attack was meaningless until he managed to locate its core shards and destroy them.

Since the tactic proved effective against the Simurgh, the Emperor decided to employ it once more. With a flex of his will, open portals to the Immaterium appeared all around the Entity in every dimension it resided in.

The Entity was smarter than the Simurgh though, and after seconds of being unable to decipher the true nature of the Empyrean it ignored it completely to refocus on the Emperor.

Those seconds cost it dearly.

The Emperor dismissed his sword and concentrated immense amounts of Warp energy in his hands, compressing it and shaping it to his will, until he was holding a bright ball of energy that kept shifting colours.

He then launched that same energy at the beast, the ball twisting itself in a beam of continuous destructive might. The Emperor split that beam in multiple attacks and guided them through the barriers of reality to the body of the Entity, targeting it in multiple dimensions at once.

This time, the Emperor purposefully aimed at what he could recognise as planning shards. His attack had to scythe through layers of protective shielding and defensive shards, so his attack lost much of its potency, but it still caused significant damage to the planning capability of his opponent.

He had to stop his barrage when he felt the Entity trying to encase him in a time bubble and bringing his psychic might to bear against it.

This creature truly didn't understand what it was up against or it wouldn't have used such a tactic.

The Emperor was intimately familiar with time distortions, such was the nature of the Empyrean that time was meaningless in there. It was documented that entire sectors of the galaxy had spent entire centuries in a Warp Storm while from the outside only decades had past.

He let the bubble surround him, then launched his own counter at it. He forcefully usurped control of the bubble from the Entity, before routing those same effects against his opponent.

Understandably, the energy used to bind him in time wasn't sufficient to immobilise the enormous creature, but it was still enough to slow its reactions.

The Emperor used this to his advantage and redoubled his efforts to cripple as much of the abomination as possible. He released a torrent of lightning against it, slowing it further and harming more of its shards.

He used the momentary lull in the battle to synthesise enormous wraithbone pillars, dozens of feet in length, which he kept floating in an orbit around him. When he deemed to have enough, he used them to amplify his powers even further and shot them at full speed at the Entity in various dimensions, embedding them deep into its flesh.

The Entity broke through the time dilation effect and kept him at bay by opening rifts into empty dimensions, slowing his advance, while it tried to dislodge the pillars from its body.

It was for naught, however. Everything it brought against it didn't work, or it did, but the powerful self-regenerating nature of the material made the damage done minimal.

It also served another purpose. Previously the Emperor had been searching the Immaterium for its core parts, now however he could search for them through his connection to the pillars, while simultaneously using them to channel his powers into destructive effects against the abomination without exposing himself to further attacks.

Through the open portals he opened earlier, the Emperor unleashed a barrage of psychic energy against the Entity, crippling it further.

That's when he sensed them.

The core shards of the Entity, those precious few that gave the gestalt of shards their guiding conscious, nestled deep within its flesh and constantly phasing between dimensions to keep themselves from harm.

With a triumphant grin, the Emperor focused on the wraithbone in its body and using their connection to it he spread his presence directly to its core.

Probably feeling its impending death, the Entity renewed its attacks against him, throwing everything it could at him. A barrage of metals warped from the planets below, flames as hot as those of the sun, energy blasts of incredible power.

The Emperor used his link to the Immaterium to its fullest, predicting the trajectory of the attacks and dodging with minimal movements and conserving his reserves for a final attack.

Once he had a proper focus on his objective the Emperor immersed himself deep within the currents of the Warp, drawing from it an amount of energy he had never dared to before, concentrating on keeping a hold of himself and not letting those ever changing currents affect him, he moulded those very same energies in an attack that could potentially vaporise entire continents and unleashed it directly at the core of the Entity.

His telepathy, which he had kept suppressed all along to avoid contacting a mind of unknown properties, picked up the cries of the creature in its death throes.

The next moments were peaceful, as the Emperor let himself bask in the light of the sun, releasing the tension from the battle.

He spread his awareness to the parallel dimensions the Entity was in, searching for any sign of life left after his attack.

When he found none, he used his psychic might to slowly widen the rifts between realities and brought the entirety of the Entity in the dimension he was in and at the same time started to feed it into the star, destroying every last piece of it he could find.

Finally satisfied with his efforts, the Emperor floated aimlessly through the void, slowly recalling his power into himself, his aura receding with every passing moment until it disappeared completely, leaving behind his customary soft golden glow.

The Emperor briefly considered if he should have spared some parts of the Entity, to use them in the same fashion Cauldron was using the Thinker, before dismissing the possibility. The corpse of the Thinker occupied several dimensions and Cauldron still hadn't reached the halfway point of dismantling the creature for the benefit of mankind. Another one would keep them busy for decades and besides, the Emperor hadn't studied it in its entirety like he did the Thinker. He didn't know if some of its shards would have averse effects on its host.

He focused back on Cauldron's base and once he had a firm image of it he gathered a little of his power before teleporting himself.

As he arrived in his laboratory, the various machines silent for the moment, he could immediately sense the agitation of the employees, but Alexandria, along with Doctor Mother and Eidolon, were bastions of calm in their midst, even if they were nervous underneath that.

With confusion, the Emperor exited his rooms and shortly made his way to them.

He entered a meeting room, a square portal hanging in the middle of it. The Emperor recognised the work of Doormaker.

His entrance didn't go unnoticed, the people present looking at him. Alexandria and Eidolon were wearing their costumes, while Doctor Mother wore her customary pristine white jacket and skirt.

It was Alexandria that broke the silence. "How did it go?"

He turned in her direction. "The Entity was killed in our battle. It wasn't easy but I managed to find its vital agents and take it out. It won't be long before Contessa starts to lose her power", he looked to Eidolon, "I will have to use the same procedure on her that I used on you, David."

The Doctor furrowed her brows at the thought of Contessa, but she let out a sigh of relief. "Those are good news. With this final confirmation we can be sure that the battle against Scion won't take such a heavy toll as we predicted", she looked as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and looked at him with gratitude, "Thank you."

The Emperor nodded, "It was nothing. Now tell me, what has you so troubled? Did Scion react in any way to indicate he detected his brethren?"

Eidolon shook his head in negative. "No, Scion kept up with his usual routine, no surprises there."

Alexandria concluded for him, "It's something else, I'm afraid. We don't know if it's from your defeat of the Simurgh or some signal sent by this third Entity, but Behemoth is on the move. The Protectorate has already been alerted by Dragon but the problem is that we didn't expect another attack so soon. Are you joining us?"

The Emperor nodded and started to walk toward the portal, Alexandria and Eidolon falling into step at his sides. He had already used the Immaterium too much during his fight with the abomination and he wouldn't be able to rely on it too much in the battle to come, but his personal reserved had already refilled to full capacity.

"Of course, where is it heading to?", the Emperor applied a glamour to the armour so that its appearance resembled what the one still in construction would look like.

"Initial scans indicated the East Coast of America." Alexandria supplied.

"And the more recent ones?"

"Brockton Bay."


	15. Interlude (Lisa Wilbourn)

**Interlude**

Lisa sat at the bench, an open book in her lap giving the impression of a young woman just relaxing in the afternoon air reading a book in the safety of the Boardwalk.

In reality, Lisa was people-watching. It was her one favourite past-time, beside trying to find whatever scrap of information she could on Coil, so that she could escape the hold he had on her.

Both of those tasks gave off depressing results most of the time. The second because Coil had a good picture of what her power did and in the rare meetings they had face to face he was careful not to reveal anything important from his body language. The first because her power always managed to give her the more gruesome details of other peoples life.

Still, in the midst of adulterers, tax-evaders and thieves, she sometimes found people who were genuinely happy, who didn't have hidden skeletons in their closets. Those were the times she felt a little bit better, because even if she was unwillingly working for that man, at least some people could lead a good life. It gave her hope for her future, to see such people walk past with little worries.

A teenage girl walked past, dressed in an oversized hoodie and sweatpants.

 _Fifteen, female. Dresses in subdued colours. Self-counscious. Hunched posture, trying to blend into the background. Trying to disappear. Does not want attention. Does not want to be seen. Is nervous to be surrounded by a lot of people. Traumatised. Recently traumatised. Trauma because of family? No. From schoolmates. Bullies? Girl is bullied, suffered trauma because of them. Has slight suicidal tendencies._

Well. That one didn't raise her spirits, that was for certain. It didn't help that the last thing her power informed her of was that the girl was suicidal, reminding Lisa of her own brother. Oh Reggie...

She shook her head. That was one part of her past that she didn't want to bring up.

Lisa let her gaze wander around, looking for something juicy. It wouldn't be the first time that she learned something vital for a future job by just letting her power work on the masses of Brockton Bay.

 _...Wealthy. Gold ring on finger. Shouting at the phone; angry at someone for almost getting discovered. Shouting at his mistress. Wife suspects but doesn't know..._

 _...Looking around; searching for something. Looking for victim. He is a thief..._

 _...Red and green scarf. No obvious markings. Asian descent. ABB sympathiser, wants to get away from this city..._

 _...Joy, fear, suspicion. Can't believe what she is seeing..._

 _...Incredulous; doesn't believe what he is seeing..._

What? She turned her attention to the last two people, to find them in front of an electronic store, staring fixedly at the TV in the front window. A crowd was starting to form in front of it and one of those at the very front -young, just lost his job, dressed to impress future employer; happy about the news- let out a whoop of joy and started to laugh. Tellingly, the people around him didn't seem to mind, everyone sporting the same smile of satisfaction.

Curious, Lisa closed the book and put it under her arm before walking forward to see whatever had all those people so happy.

As she neared the front window, dodging between the ranks of men and women trying to do the same, she started to hear the news.

 _"-nd while the PRT still hasn't released an official statement, we at NEWS 5 want to confirm it to all the citizens of the United States of America. The Slaughterhouse 9 is no more. I repeat, the Slaughterhouse 9 has been found, already dead, at the latest site of their barbaric games thanks to the prompt response of their shocked victims who, in that time of great fear, managed to gather their courage and call for the police. Now I give you Caroline Denvers, at the site. What can you tell us Caroline?"_

Lisa had managed to reach the front of the crowd and stood still, her mouth hanging open as she watched and listened attentively at the news report. Did she hear correctly?

 _"Thank you Jenny. I received confirmation from the policemen that are currently surrounding the house where the act happened. Approximately an hour ago, a couple that had been at the mercy of the Slaughterhouse 9 had witnessed the death of the majority of their members. The police was swift in its response and it took no time at all for the local branch of the Protectorate to come in rescue of them. Fortunately, it seems the villains had just begun their twisted game and the couple had emerged unscathed except for some shock. Minutes ago we saw the police bring out seven bodies from the house, and it seems they found no trace of either Bonesaw and the Siberian. While there is much relief to see that this S-Class threat is no longer a danger, I cannot stress enough that we should be on guard. Two of their members were not found and we must maintain vigilance to ensure they aren't left alone to rebuild their group again."_

It was true. While the images weren't clear, there were pairs of policemen and medical personnel carrying body bags out of the house. The death of a member of the S9 wasn't strange, it happened all the time. One of them would get too cocky and a blow would get through them. In fact, the only member of the original Slaughterhouse that still remained alive was Jack Slash. Not anymore, apparently.

But all of them at the same time? Okay, so Bonesaw and the Siberian weren't on the list, but still. That was an impressive number, not to talk about Crawler, who was supposed to be capable of healing from any injury and come out stronger than before.

Questions ran through her head at a fast pace. What happened? Who did it? How did they do it? Was it a single parahuman or a group effort? The couple that witnessed their deaths and didn't mention any parahuman involvement, stranger?

Lisa let her power run wild. She needed answers and she needed them now.

 _Reporters is sure of the news. S9 dead. They died at the same time; body bags for each member, no signs of blood on them. No blood; no external injuries. Happened a hour ago, news spread fast-_

Lisa yanked her power back on track. How did it happen?

 _Trump? Blaster? Stranger? Not enough information. Possible stranger involvement, no one saw what happened exactly, no injury, two members not found-_

With a growl, Lisa shut her power off. She just didn't have enough information for her power to reach the right conclusion. The bodies were transported in body bags, which meant no dismemberment, the house looked intact, there had been no battle, not enough damage for a blaster of sufficient power to kill Crawler.

Her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen. Coil.

She accepted the call. "Boss?"

"Tattletale, did you hear the news?" As usual, his smooth voice made shivers run down her spine.

 _Heard of it. Wants my opinion, wants information. Doesn't know the details._

Lisa smirked. For once he didn't have all the cards, it seemed. She started to walk away, this place was too crowded for this kind of discussion anyway and the news didn't have any more information to offer.

"The death of the S9? I heard, what about it?"

There was a pause on the other end. "Tattletale."

She gritted her teeth. His voice didn't have a threatening tone to it, but she could recognise the order from a mile away and the underlying content as well. Keep joking and your life is forfeit.

Lisa let out a sigh. "No more than what the news said. I don't have enough information to form a clear picture of what happened." It galled her to admit it, but it was the truth. She was always on top of everything, she always had a card up her sleeve, had already figured out everything before the start. It rankled her pride to say she didn't know something.

"Keep me informed if something changes. The plan for the casino is still on, see to it."

"Will do."

 **oOo**

Lisa started at the television, blinking in disbelief.

The Undersiders were in what passed for a living room in the loft, since it resembled more a teenager's dream more than a normal living room. Pizza boxes scattered all over the floor and the table in front of the sofa. A large TV screen fixed to the wall with various gaming platforms under it and various games still in their coverings.

Rachel sat on the floor with her dogs and was currently petting Angelica while she gazed at the wall, her power helpfully informed her she was considering taking them for a walk.

Brian was somewhere in the kitchen with headphones on, probably hunting for some food that wasn't pizza, an unlikely endeavour with Alec in the same building. Alec was on the sofa with her, for once looking with interest at the news.

 _Interested, excited. Wants to know who is doing this, wants to talk to them-_

Lisa shut her power off. She didn't need to know that Alec was having a crush on whoever was tearing through S-Class threats all over the world like they didn't exist.

It was a few days after their escape from Lung and their newest member was at school at the moment. Frankly, Taylor's ploy was so evident it was insulting. Still, her power could be useful and Lisa was sure that she could turn her to their point of view given enough time. It helped that the longer she spent in their presence her suicidal thoughts kept diminishing. She wasn't her brother, and what had happened wouldn't change, but if she could save just this one person she would feel better afterwards.

Just after the news of the death of the Slaughterhouse Nine spread, similar happenings started to happen all over the world. S-Class threats, parahumans of such power that the government resorted to kill orders to bring them down, were falling like flies, one after another.

Nilbog, eaten by his own creation before those very same monsters crumbled to ashes; the Three Blasphemies, Moord Nag, Ash Beast, the Sleeper... a cape so dangerous the Russians didn't even post guards at the perimeter of his territory.

All of them killed in the span of a few days.

The 'Culling' as the media worldwide started to call this phenomenon, was the systematic removal of those threats. Lisa didn't know what to make of it.

Her power didn't help in this matter. The wasn't enough information to form a clear picture and it started to give her theories ever more unbelievable and convoluted.

What she did know, though, was that it was all done by the same person that killed the S9. She couldn't guess at their motivation, but that much her power could deduce. It still didn't give her the measure of their power, since all of the deaths happened in various ways, and that made her even more snappy than usual.

Was it a mover? Teleporting themlseves across the world, with a blaster power to take care of the kills from a distance? A shaker, with some kind of effects strong enough to be felt worldwide? A blaster that could remain in a fixed location and control their blows from afar? She didn't know, and it worried her.

Lisa turned her gaze away from the TV, she had a bank job to plan and she still had to convince her teammates that they could escape from it without getting caught.

 **oOo**

The Simurgh disappeared from the atmosphere.

The fucking Simurgh disappeared!

Her power wasn't offering anything new, she had watched the video feed, as had most of the world by now, and what she got from it was inconclusive.

 _Simurgh. Enbringer. Alien biology. No organs or nervous system. Composed of layers of ever more stronger durability the further from the skin all the way to core body. Superficial layer more flexible for movement-_

It took some cajoling of her mental tracks, but she did manage to discover something.

 _Pulled. Invisible grip. Pulled in another direction. No visible energy detected, Simurgh pulled for 4.7 inches before disappearing. Pulled somewhere. Alternate dimension? Eidolon?_

It didn't give her much, but she could hazard a guess that the same parahuman that disposed of the other S-Class threats had decided to start on the Endbringers. Still, why the Simurgh? It was the most dangerous of the three and the most slippery. Wouldn't it have been better to start from the least dangerous? Leviathan perhaps?

Brian was worrying about it, her power telling her he was having second thoughts about their villain career. It didn't surprise her. Brian was in it just for his sister and wouldn't want to risk everything he had worked for. Even he could sense the underlying motives of these attacks, all of them targeted villains or major threats and how much longer would it be until they turned their attention to smaller threats? Of course, that was still way off, but by the definition of it, the Undersiders were a villain group. They were small fries, that was true, but if the theme of these attacks kept up, it wouldn't be long until they were on the radar.

Lisa let out a sigh, Coil was getting more paranoid by the day and she couldn't shake off the gut feeling that things were coming to a close in their partnership. She didn't know when or how, but she decided to trust her feelings on the matter.

She put down the newspaper and started to browse the internet. Apparently the ABB had been silent for a while, probably mustering their forces for attack. Now that Lung was free once again, they had power on their side. It was a matter of days now, until they launched a counterattack to regain their lost territory. Bakuda was laying low, probably to avoid attention now that her little experiments on humans had been busted.

 **oOo**

Then the Endbringer sirens started to blare.

 **oOo**

The Undersiders were all in the loft when the sirens started. It took a moment for what that meant to sink in.

Brian, who had paled upon hearing it, looked at Taylor and spoke. "Well, we didn't talk about this since you are new to the team, but we decided when we began that we would help however we could if an Endbringer ever came to the Bay... You in?"

Taylor was visibly struggling to say something, before she decisively nodded.

Brian looked at the others before he cleared his throat. "I don't know how much we could help against such monsters, our powers aren't exactly geared toward this kind of fights. Still... Let's go."

They all went to change into their costume, while Lisa sat, frozen on the couch. Why? Why did the Endbringer break their cycle of attacks and retreat? It should have happened in a month, not now. What happened to change their routine?

 _Simurgh. The Simurgh, the planner; gave the others the time of attack; without direction, without control. Leviathan? Not enough clouds. Weather clear, no rain. Behemoth._

She swallowed.

The ride to the gathering of capes passed in a blur atop Bitch's dogs, already transformed in preparation of the battle ahead.

They stopped at the edge of the city, the boardwalk at their left and the highway to Boston sneaking its way to the south.

The Protectorate and the Wards were out in full, presenting a united front against the villains that responded to the call. Lisa could see the various E88 capes grouped together, staying as far away as they could form Lung.

Lung, who had already battled Leviathan and survived to tell the tale. He was already eight feet tall, scales emerging ever faster form his skin, the temperature rising in his immediate vicinity.

There was no sign of the Merchants, but Tattletale considered that a small mercy. They would probably be too high to distinguish between friend or foe, even when the enemy was forty-five feet tall.

PRT agents moved from cape to cape, giving out armbands to keep track of the various defenders. Dragon was positioning her newest suit and probably doing last minute checks to her weapons, until she landed with the rest of the Guild at the head of the group with Legend and Chevalier.

There was a muffled thunderclap behind her and Tattletale turned in time to see Strider teleporting away, presumably to carry other capes willing to fight against the Herokiller.

Among the recently arrived the most easily recognisable were Alexandria and Eidolon, wearing their iconic costumes, talking to someone.

It wasn't them who took her attention, though.

It was the Man who started to walk toward Legend, the other two members of the Triumvirate flanking Him like a honour guard.

As soon as her eyes came to rest on Him, her power started feeding her information, and Tattletale felt her mouth open in surprise.

 _Alexandria and Eidolon flanking Him. Him at the centre, position of authority. Powerful. Man. Humͨ͒a͇̔̕ͅn̡̠̲̗͇͔͚̽͆ͦ.̬͇̖̳͊̑͟ ͓̮̙͇̬͖̦̔̔̆̀͛͒̽N̟̙̪͓͌ͯ̀̐ͣo̴͙͍̰ͨ̓ͦẗ͍͖͖͘-̸͒ͩͪͭͫh̫͙͉̪̖̯̰̉̑u̿͒ͣ͆̎m̷͎̱̰̲̉̈ͩ͑ǎ̿͗̐n̠̰̝̪̳̻.̳̥̠̗̰̥̩͝ ͇͓̱̟̞̳̅̏ͫ̇̑̀ͯͅP̶̆̃a̫̝̠̯̟͇͋̒̋͊͛ͮr̩̩ͫ̚a͙̖͓ͭͬ͂̿̉̂h̪̯̳̹̙͈̹ͥ̽ͯ͑̎̅ű͖̦ͪ̊̒̎̃̐m͕̋͌ͨ̄̿͊͊a͐̈́̒͛̂͆̆͏̜̥̼n̴͖̰̝̈́ͧͫ̇ͭͥ̔.͍͚̦̤̙̇͂̽ͭ̃ ̯͓̞̱̺̫ͦͣ͆ͅN̯o̵̭͙̘͖̳̟̼ͮ̄͌ͤͭ̃t̯͆͗-̱̼̌̄̊̓͐̊͡ͅp̔á͎̱͕ṟ͙͒̋͋͐a̎̈́̒͒h̥͕̘̙̬͖̍u̖̞̮̼͈͑̉ͨm̦̟̥̖̼̮͓ͯ͆̀̿ḁ̥̟̰͌ͭ̇ͬ̍̊͜n̟͍̼̹̣̻̖̿̄̿̊͗.̣͙͈ͯͅ_

He was encased in golden armour, so tall that the others around Him barely reached His waist and He was at least fifteen feet tall. His form was impossibly perfect, His skin a bronze colour, giving off a subtle golden glow. At His hip hung a golden sword that gave her a headache as soon as her eyes landed on it. The people around Him kept sneaking glances in His direction, and from the knowing tilt of His lips, He knew it.

They neared her position, making a beeline toward the head of the gathering of capes. As they entered her range of hearing, she managed to catch the rest of their conversation.

"-cause of her disappearance?" Alexandria said.

The Man nodded in response. " **It is possible that with her destruction the rest of her brethren didn't want to stick to her plans. We must remain vigilant, in case the water beast makes an appearance in the following days.** "

Eidolon looked around before his gaze rested on Legend, who was giving them a curious look. "We are fortunate Behemoth appeared well away from inhabited areas and didn't make detours before arriving here. We have at least five more minutes to coordinate our assault. Will you join the battle immediately?"

He shook His head. " **I wish to see how you fight side by side, but do not worry, no one here will die under my watch.** "

They passed by her position, no one giving the Undersiders the slightest bit of attention, except for the Man, who met her eyes. She felt an almost physical weight press against her shoulders as He scrutinised her, His stare assessing, penetrating, almost as if looking at her very soul. A Thinker headache blossomed into existence inside of her skull. She couldn't move, she couldn't tear her eyes away from those bottomless pits of deep brown. He gave her an amused smile.

 _Human, not-human, p̩̤̱̐̐̊̀e̛̼̙̦rf̧͚̮̯̮͗̌̈̄̃ͯ̚é̫̞̬̻͍͉̐ͅc͎̳̞͉͉̾̈́ͦͩ͊͢t͆͆̑͂͊ͫ̈͏͓̟,̨̙̜̫̩̲͕ͪ̾̒̆͒̒ͅ ̦̘͎̙̤̬̿͌ͮp̥̭͉̙̍̑ͭ̋͗͞o̡̲̝̙̠͗͒ͅw̸̪̩̣̒̎͐ͥͨ̀e̪͈͇͆ͪ̈̅͂͂̚r̯̼ͯͬ̏͊̓͆͢f̶̩̦͇͖ͦͦ͂ͭ̽̎u̾́͠l͛͊͛́̒̿́҉̲̬͍͖͉̲,̝̻̣͈̠͙̰ͫ͂̃͆_ _ **H̠e͇̠ͥͯl͌̿ḷ̱̙̜͙o̲̫̮̯̜̮͊̌͋ͪ̉̚.̟̭̼̯̘̜̈́̌ͤͧͭ̏**_

Tattletale gulped.


	16. Interlude (Colin Wallis)

**Interlude**

Armsmaster looked at Director Piggot and he once more wondered whose bright idea it was to give her a position where contact with parahumans was inevitable.

As she raised her gaze from his most recent report, the distrust in her eyes not given even a perfunctory effort to be hidden, he reflected that for a woman of her past it was a miracle she didn't just have every cape that entered her field of vision shot on the spot. He had read her file, everyone in the Protectorate had read it, and he couldn't find it in himself to begrudge her suspicion of parahumans. Still, her position necessitated close contact with parahumans and her work centred around them and as the leader of the Protectorate ENE he would have had an easier time doing his job if she didn't stonewall him at every opportunity just to spite him.

Nevertheless, Armsmaster made it a point of pride to never lose his professional attitude, in or outside his job he always tried to respect the chain of command and he wouldn't air his frustrations on his superior.

"Everyone of them?" her voice didn't noticeably change in pitch, but he could see her shoulders relax marginally.

He couldn't blame her. The Slaughterhouse Nine were monsters of the highest order. One could argue that the Endbringers caused more casualties, more destruction, but the fact remained that however much the Endbringers were comparable to natural disasters, the Nine were human. It was one thing to witness the aftermath of a Leviathan attack, streets flooded with rotting things, buildings smashed to the ground, corpses of heroes and villains alike having died to oppose them, civilians reaching a painful end outside the shelters.

The aftermath of the Nine leaving a town was all the more disquieting because it showed the world the depth of human cruelty. To think, that in a world where giant monsters killed thousands every three months, where all of humanity should have bandied together to take them down, to protect themselves, existed people of such depravity as to completely disregard the value of human life.

Armsmaster had a long career behind him and in his long years of service he had seen things he would rather forget. He had disbanded human trafficking rings, drug trade and forced prostitution, but he would never forget the sight of Hero, his mentor from when he was still in the Wards, butchered by the Siberian. The hopelessness that consumed his fellow heroes in training to see their superior, their friend, killed not in an Endbringer fight, or in battle against villains, but by animals that didn't even have a motive behind their actions. Just senseless cruelty for cruelty's sake.

"Bonesaw and the Siberian are still missing, but our Thinkers are already searching for them."

Piggot grunted, "Good riddance."

And that was that.

 **oOo**

The 'Culling', as it was now named, was a PR nightmare for the entire Protectorate and PRT.

There were questions, ranging from 'who did it' to 'when will it stop'. For the moment, the press was focusing on the consequences of those deaths, what would happen to Africa now, without Moord Nag to serve as the lynchpin of the various warlords? She didn't control them, exactly, but her mere presence made the others too afraid to draw her attention to themselves, leaving the continent in a perpetual stalemate. Now? Now the sharks were smelling blood in the water and every one of them wanted a piece of the land for themselves.

Colin had never seen so vicious a smile as the one on Director Piggot's face when the news of the death of Nilbog came in.

He knew though, that when the questions started to dry up, accusations would start flying. If someone had been able to defeat all these villains in the course of days, why didn't the heroes do it before? Were they afraid? What were they doing with their taxes all this time?

Colin threw himself into his work more than ever. He had to be better, faster, stronger, more resourceful than his enemies, more prepared to face his foes.

And if in the back of his mind a voice said 'it should have been me to defeat them', he ignored it with practiced ease. He wasn't blind to his own limitations, to the ceiling that was coming ever nearer to in his career and abilities. His team couldn't understand his frustration with himself. He, who had to spend hours and hours in his workshop to improve his armour and halberd, making repairs and always improving. Then setting aside time for physical exercise planned to perfection to give himself the maximum advantage his ageing physique could give.

He couldn't take out his anger on them. Not even on Dauntless, who only had to wait a day to improve his abilities, reaching higher and higher levels of power each passing day, who had no appreciation of the dedication he put into being a hero, his job, his life.

Now was his moment to shine. Lung in custody, his gang hanging by threads, ready for easy pickings. If he played this right he could bring in the rest of his organisation and then move on the other gangs infesting his city like cancerous growths. The balance of Brockton Bay had been thrown into disarray and if he wanted to do it, now was the perfect time to strike before the balance restored itself and became too fragile to disrupt again.

 **oOo**

"Colin."

He grunted, signalling he was listening.

He was in his workshop, working on his halberd. Lung had escaped, Lung had escaped. Right in front of them, the Protectorate had let the villain go, too busy reacting to the bombing spree Bakuda had put into motion to rescue her boss.

Right when he could see victory before his eyes, everything went up in smoke. He didn't know if his reputation could recover from this. First the condition he brought Lung in, all because of the bug-girl, and now this. Another black spot in his record. The most powerful parahuman in Brockton Bay in his custody, ready for the Birdcage, snatched right under his nose. This time it was all the worse because he hadn't escaped in transit like the Empire managed to do for Alabaster once, this time he escaped from the Protectorate HQ, where he should have been held until it was time to send him to prison.

"Colin, talk to me."

His head snapped up, a snarl on his lips. "What?" he grated out.

As he saw the image on one of his screens flinch minutely, Colin felt a pit grow in his stomach. He shouldn't do this to Dragon. Now when she was supporting him every time he needed it.

He remembered with fondness all the hours spent tinkering together, ideas and projects passing back and forth between them for whole nights without sleep. Her gentle reminders to eat and rest once in a while. He couldn't do this to her, not when she understood him so much, not after years of friendship. Colin knew he wasn't a very sociable person and he knew that he came off arrogant and patronising more often than not to those under his command, but Dragon could understand him and more than once was the one he ranted to when someone did something so unbelievably stupid it was all he could do to leave the room and not snap back at them.

He let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping down. He rubbed his forehead, massaging the bridge of his nose to stave off his building headache. "I'm sorry, Dragon. It was unbecoming of me. It's just... It's been a couple of bad days one right after another. I'm sorry."

She smiled slightly, "Don't worry, I understand, and I fear your days are going to be even more troublesome from now on," her smile took on an apologetic quality, "The Simurgh disappeared just minutes ago, my satellites and sensors pointed in her direction detected her disappearance."

He felt his face freeze and his blood rush from his head at the information he just received.

This was... Unprecedented. And terrifying. The Simurgh was most difficult to fight of the Endbringers, on one hand because of her precognition, which rendered her untouchable during fights. On the other hand, her scream was another weapon she wielded with surgical precision. Every attack, every plan, every countermeasure was futile against her because she had already seen its coming, and all the while the capes attacking her were subjected to a mental scream that slowed them down, blurred their senses and if exposed to it for too long a time made them a liability, because in the future, maybe weeks, months or years later, they would turn mad and attack other people.

It was something the world learned after Switzerland and a lesson that wouldn't be forgotten any time soon.

It was despicable, what had to be done after a Simurgh attack. Whole cities quarantined, isolated from the world. Innocents and compromised people alike, because with the Simurgh it was impossible to divine who was affected too much, condemned to live the rest of their life doomed to never see the outside world again. And all of it could be for naught. The Thinkers the Protectorate employed had never given an accurate estimate of the power of her precognition, but at best the Endbringer could see years in advance into the future. Could it be all part of the plan? The quarantine? All little pieces in a giant chessboard only she could see, put in their position years before only to form a completed puzzle when no one expected it.

Every action she took was analysed over and over again, to look for a hint, something, anything, to guess at her plans. Nothing ever came of it, but the world kept trying.

And now this. Where was she? Why did she vanish? Why now? Was she gone for good, or was it a ruse, all to drive the world to paranoia? All this questions blurred through Colin's mind and he could not find an answer to any of them.

He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. "Have you informed the Director?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Dragon nodded. "I already notified Chief Director Costa-Brown of this and she already sent an alert to all the branches of the PRT. For now it's still a secret, but it won't take a lot of time for the news to spread to the rest of the world."

Colin nodded. Indeed, Dragon was not the only one tracking the route of the Endbringer through the sky. It wouldn't be long until it reached the ears of the populace and even if the first reaction would be relief, panic would follow in its wake.

He looked down at his halberd again, his mind racing through what he could do to make it more useful in a fight. The nano-thorn project was still in its infancy and he would have liked a bit more time to flesh out his idea more, but there was no telling what would happen now, if this could help in the future.

"Dragon, tell me what you think of this, I had an idea last week..." As he launched into an explanation of his newest idea, Colin let his thoughts wander, relaxing under the familiar banter between them.

Everything to take his mind off this new development.

 **oOo**

The nano-thorn project was better than he could have imagined. Colin was sure that without Dragon's help it would have taken him at least a few weeks more to finish it.

As it was, the new feature of his halberd was still a prototype. There were some difficulties with the code to straighten out, some hardware malfunctions that Dragon pointed out. It was a powerful weapon, but it would be at least a few days before it would be as perfect as he could make it. Then he had to give his project away to the PRT for testing and he knew it would be another week at the minimum before he had it back in his hands.

Still, it was beautiful to see his designs come to life in front of him, knowing that with this weapon he could defeat the monsters of the world... those that remained at least.

A ping from one of his monitors gained his attention. The map of the world was displayed on the screen, with a red dot blinking rapidly, signalling signs of seismic activity and moving from the Atlantic ocean to the mainland.

It took a moment for what he was seeing to sink in, before Colin hurriedly bolted from his chair to the intercom placed on one of his work desks.

He pushed the button on it and when the light informed him the connection was opened he said, "Attention to all Protectorate members and PRT agents on base, this is Armsmaster. Endbringer on the move from the Atlantic, initial readings suggest it's aiming at the East Coast. I repeat, Endbringer on the move, initiate the relevant protocols."

Colin ignored the sound of orders barked through the speakers in the Rig, instead rushing across his lab to the corner where his armour was stored. He stopped in front of a blank stretch of wall and announced in a clear voice, "Armsmaster, code epsilon-bay-gamma-478, commence procedure."

"Confirmed." An automatic sounding voice came from the speakers in his lab.

The wall in front of him raised itself and slid sideways, opening the way for robotic arms that immediately started to assemble the armour they were holding. Colin waited with barely contained agitation. If he survived this he had to find a way to speed up the process.

As his legs were engulfed in the protective embrace of metal, Dragon's voice alerted him of her presence.

"I still have Leviathan on my sensors and there is no movement from him. Behemoth has surfaced from the earth and is gaining speed as we speak."

Armsmaster grunted as the arms finished assembling his chest plate before responding, "Why this soon? We should have at least another month before another attack. Why is it breaking the pattern? Why now?"

"I am not a hundred percent sure, but the disappearance of the Simurgh could be related. We long suspected she was the one giving orders of the three, it's possible her disappearance threw their plans in disarray, or maybe this is part of the plan."

He clenched his jaw in irritation. There was nothing ever sure about the Endbringers, but their patterns had always been the same since the three started to attack cities. Every three months one of them would surface and attack and this time there was a high probability it would be Leviathan. Too many things were happening in the world to be a coincidence. The murder of every S-Class villain on Earth, the disappearance of the Simurgh, and now this. They were all connected, he could feel it in his bones, but he just didn't know how. He didn't have that significant piece of information that would clear the puzzle in his mind.

As the helmet closed securely on his head, Armsmaster took a moment to revel in the safety he always felt when he wore his armour, the noise of hydraulics and machinery calming his mind as they worked perfectly together to protect him. His halberd held securely to his back in a magnetic lock, he snatched the prototype weapon from the work desk and put it alongside the other, there was no more time for testing and it could give some edge in the fight to come. He walked resolutely out of his workshop, his steps even and not betraying his inner turmoil.

Dragon's voice came from his helmet now, her connection transferred seamlessly to the armour. Her voice came right in his ear, giving the illusion of her being right beside him. "The Protectorate is already mobilising and the Guild will offer its support in this battle."

"Thank you Dragon."

As he exited his personal safe haven, Armsmaster pushed his doubts and fears to the back of his mind. It wasn't the time to reflect on them and now the capes under his command needed to see him calm and under control. He needed to be the rock they could anchor themselves to in this situation, immovable and strong in the face of adversity.

He could do this. He had to.

 **oOo**

There had to be something or someone working in the background for everything to go wrong in so little time.

Behemoth was heading to Brockton Bay. In less than an hour the Endbringer would be at the shore, ready to wreak destruction to his city and its citizens. The sirens were blaring non-stop and evacuation had already started. From the corner of his eye he could see airplanes performing emergency flights, carrying as many people as they could afford before taking to the air as soon as possible. The rich and those that could afford it were already gone, probably by helicopter. The highway north was a constant stream of cars, horns honking and blaring with impatience and terror. Those that couldn't leave due to traffic and limited funding were heading to the shelters, for all the good it would do to them. Behemoth was indiscriminate in his destruction and many of those would come under attack if they weren't able to stop him at the shore.

Armsmaster didn't wish the monster on any city, but he couldn't help but despair at it coming to the Bay. Didn't they already have enough problems in the last weeks? The gang war, the diminishing trust from the civilians, Lung's escape, now this. It would take years for the radiation to dissipate thanks to the effort of many Tinkers and other parahumans with useful powers, but in the meantime Brockton Bay, his city, was going to become a desolate graveyard.

He clenched his fist, the image of the ghost town this place was going to become burning itself in his mind. Nothing could be done to avert that fate, but by every god that existed he was going to do everything in his power to make that monster pay this.

Battles against Behemoth were futile. Not unlike the Simurgh, who could predict their attacks. The Herokiller was simply invulnerable to everything they could think of. He was forty-five feet tall, taller than the other two Endbringers, he emitted waves of energy around him that killed everything in a 32 feet radius around him, his infamous 'Kill Aura', making only capes of extreme durability his only opponents.

Leviathan had his water echo, the Simurgh had her scream and precognition, but those two could be fought by anyone that could go near them. Even if Leviathan was faster than them and the Simurgh could evade their attacks, they could be fought against.

Behemoth not so much.

It ignited a fury he had never felt before in his life to know that he could do nothing against this monster. The only thing Armsmaster could do was organise attacks, prepare bottlenecks and traps to stop him going further, all the while retreating and watching his fellow heroes go to their deaths against him.

It wasn't right. But Armsmaster had known for a long time that nothing was right in the world if every three months thousands of people were killed and they could do nothing to stop it.

Still, watching as heroes and villains alike came to fight against the First, Armsmaster felt hope. Maybe they could do nothing against Behemoth now, but until the time they could, they would do anything to stop this, to protect those that couldn't protect themselves, to preserve life in the face of such odds and come back another day, stronger than before.

 **oOo**

Preparations were complete, as many civilians had been evacuated as was possible. Those with teleportation powers were working around the clock to bring more capes to the fight. Emergency medical tents had been erected and Panacea was at hand.

The last PRT agents on site were distributing armbands to every cape that arrived before leaving the site.

Armsmaster cast his gaze around the gathering, taking notice of the arrivals. He noticed the E88 and Lung off to the side, the latter already growing taller from the promise of battle ahead.

He felt proud to see all of the Bay's Protectorate members present, even the Wards were out in full, but he couldn't help the knot of tension forming in his stomach. Those were his friends and colleagues, children under his authority who he had mentored and watched grow up under him. He could only hope they survived this, for many of them this was the first Endbringer fight in their lives and hopefully not the last.

He shoved those thoughts out of his head. This was not the time for sentimentality, he had to consider the situation from a purely practical point of view. If any of those under his command perished, he would have time to mourn later, to remember the time spent together.

Legend was already at the head of the gathering, talking to Chevalier about something or the other, he didn't know. The rest of the Triumvirate was inbound, which was a relief, since they were the strongest heavy hitters at their disposal, easily capable of standing up to Behemoth and dealing damage.

In his head, plans started to form. The first line of defence would be the Brutes capable of surviving contact with the Endbringer, then Blasters aided by Movers and Shakers for added effect. Strikers with effective powers could coordinate with others to inconvenience the beast, while Tinkers stayed at the rear with any weapon they could bring forth to damage him.

Miss Militia accosted him, "ETA?"

"Thirty minutes, less if he comes in a straight line from the ocean."

She nodded, her eyes serious, her weapon only a blur of black and green energy, as if undecided on what form to take. Finally it coalesced in a grenade launcher and her hands unconsciously adjusted to grip it tight. "I'm worried, Colin" She glanced behind him, where the Wards were huddled together.

He nodded, "I know, I know. We will try to keep them away from the fight, but you know as I do that..." He didn't need to finish his sentence for her to understand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

They were children and they were responsible for their safety. Under these circumstances though... every little bit of help could be needed. Vista especially, with her power to alter space could be of great help to guide the Endbringer toward their traps. Clockblocker, while incapable to go near Behemoth, could freeze in time objects to impede his advance and render them indestructible while under the influence of his power.

He opened his mouth to reassure her but snapped it shut a moment before words could begin to form. It began as a niggling at the back of his mind. Something was coming.

A gut feeling, something that saved his life many a time during his career, made him turn around.

Alexandria and Eidolon, Rime, Usher, Adamant, Ursa Aurora and Arbiter.

They just received a glance before he settled on what was causing his instincts to go haywire.

The first thing he noticed was the armour. Gold, like the light reflecting from His bronze skin, with the picture of a two-headed eagle on its chest place, enormous shoulder pauldrons and scale-like patterns forming on it's stomach area.

Armsmaster took in what could only be the work of a master craftsman, for each piece was perfect by itself and in conjunction to the whole.

The Man wearing it had an aura of power around Him and Armsmaster wondered how he could think this when all his algorithms could give him was garbled information. He could feel it, though, he knew without a doubt that this Man was more powerful than anything he had ever seen in his entire life. Fifteen feet tall, the people around Him looked like children in comparison, black hair waving in an unseen wind, eyes aglow with power and knowledge.

He was speaking to Eidolon and Alexandria and as they neared he could see that Legend was studying Him attentively, probably trying to discern His power. They stopped in front of them, before Legend shook himself and started to speak to Alexandria, Chevalier chiming in once to offer something.

He didn't know what they were saying, but when the Man replied His baritone voice reached them all the same.

" **You needn't concern yourself with the creature's effects, I will be countering it with my own power.** "

He cupped His hands in front of Him and they started to glow a radiant gold. A sphere of pure energy formed in His hands, before He clapped and then spread His arms to encompass everyone around Him.

The sphere, previously contained, now burst and expanded, a dome of warm golden light passing through every cape present before dissipating without trace.

" **There. I rendered all of you immune to the negative effects of the abomination's energies. Those of you that couldn't fight in close combat now will have no problem to go near it.** "

Armsmaster forced himself to unclench his shaking hands. What had happened? The moment the light touched him he had felt safe, as if nothing could harm him now. The only thing stopping him from questioning the possible Master effect was the relaxed presence of the Triumvirate. If they didn't react to this, then he could be reasonably sure that the Man posed no threat to them.

He cleared his throat. "Dragon? Did you... did you catch that?"

A burst of static was the only response he received. He tried again, "Dragon?"

The static resolved itself in the voice he knew, "I... yes, Colin. I just..."

Now concerned, Armsmaster focused himself solely on the voice of his friend. "What is it? Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, nothing's wrong. I was just reading the results of my scans." There was a pause before he heard her voice again, "I don't have my more powerful sensors on hand, but from what I can tell the energy formed a forcefield around all those in the radius of the dome, I can't get a precise reading on it, but if we take His words at face value... it should be powerful enough to negate Behemoth's Kill Aura."

He swallowed, his eyes turning to rest once more on the new cape. Impossibly strong to carry that much armour, aura, energy generation, creating forcefields for protection. Brute and Mover, a bit of Master, Blaster and Trump. What else was that Man capable of?

"Right."

 **oOo**

The battle was going well. Too well, in Armsmaster's opinion. Never before had they managed to injure Behemoth this much.

At that thought, he spared a glance behind him, where the Man was watching the clash taking place a hundred or so feet ahead of them. They had managed to keep the Endbringer at the outskirts of the city, but it was inevitable something had to give soon.

Thanks to what the Man had done, capes with powers useful in the fight had been able to get close enough to bring their abilities against the Herokiller. Hesitantly at first, because no one trusted much in the words of an unknown, but more enthusiastically once His statement proved true.

Strikers and Shakers, Blasters and Breakers, those that could normally offer their powers for diversions and ranged attacks of little power, now could actively participate in the defence against the monster.

Armsmaster suspected the forcefield wasn't the only thing the Man had done. He had seen barriers of golden energy appear to protect capes from powerful lightning blasts, people being teleported away from danger, non-Brutes healing at incredible rates if they suffered an injury.

Not one single casualty yet.

Armsmaster was currently with the Thinkers, Kid Win by his side, coordinating with all the capes on the field, redirecting flyers and blasters to take every opportunity that presented itself. He tried not to think about his friends, some who were in the thick of the action. To his relief, they were all alive, Protectorate and Wards alike.

With eye movements, he deactivated the magnetic lock of his prototype halberd. It was time to take a few pounds of flesh from the monster attacking his home. As he activated the new nano-thorn function, he took in his surroundings.

The area around the Endbringer was a wasteland, fire and magma and ice and spatial distortions and esoteric effects all mingling together against him. His rocky skin was absent in places, leaving grey, leathery skin open for further attacks when the capes around him took advantage of his temporary weakness and struck brutally, rupturing the skin and leaving bleeding wounds.

Alexandria moved away from him, taking some distance, before rocketing toward his one eye faster than the eye could track. Behemoth moved, slapping the heroine out of the sky and sending her blasting through the earth, leaving a trench at least forty feet long as she came to a stop.

While he was distracted Legend sent blast after blast of energy against him, every laser moving in a different arc until they impacted, some freezing and shattering the growths of his hands, others exploding with force as soon as they hit.

Eidolon came from above, his hands alight with different powers. "Clear the area around him!"

He needn't have said anything, for moments before he spoke, all the capes around Behemoth disappeared before rematerialising twenty feet away.

The hero thrust his hands down, bringing with them a sudden increase in gravity, rupturing the ground and forcing the giant to kneel. He spun in mid-air, directing a kick toward the kneeling figure before speeding away.

Nothing happened at first, but then the effects of his power started to show themselves. Deep gouges, at least four feet deep appeared all around the Herokiller and on his skin, opening gushing wounds all over his form.

Armsmaster had forgotten the last time he saw Eidolon fight so fiercely, powers swapping immediately instead of taking precious seconds to get to full power.

The beast rose from it position, before unleashing a tremendous roar.

The ground cracked around him, windows broke and buildings toppled to the ground.

Armsmaster didn't even have time to react before all those around him glowed. When the light died down, everyone was uninjured.

He stole a glance behind him, wondering if this had been another of the Man's forcefield's effects.

The Man uncrossed His arms in front of His chest, from where they had stayed during the entire fight, His hand going to the sword attached at His hip. It was a golden colour, with an eagle as a cross-guard, and as soon as He took it in His hand it burst into bright fire.

" **You have done well. Now it's time to finish it.** "

With that, the Man took off, cratering the ground beneath His feet. In an instant, He was in the air in front of Behemoth, His sword raised high in the air.

Armsmaster could only watch in shock as the sword looped off the right arm of the Endbringer, its fire burning brightly as it proceeded to devour the airborne limb until nothing of it was left.

The Man landed in a crouch, before springing up with a uppercut against Behemoth's stomach that lifted him off his feet.

The Triumvirate moved in, their movements coordinating themselves with those of the Man, squaring themselves against the monster that took thousands upon thousands of human lives.

Armsmaster didn't think, didn't stop to plan. He took off at his best speed, nano-thorn activated for the first time in a combat situation.

He could die out there, but for the first time since his appearance Behemoth was at a disadvantage. It was being pushed back, wounds opening all over his body.

In his soul, Armsmaster knew that today was a day that would go down in the history books.

And he was determined to make it there.


	17. Omake - If the Emperor was a Gamer

**Omake - If the Emperor was a Gamer**

He stretched his awareness to the Immaterium, ever watchful and vigilant of a possible attack... and found nothing. The Sea of Souls was calm, there were no daemons, Terra had no more than six billion people upon its soil. Confusion gave to surprise as the minds of Ancient Terra and the last soul he absorbed gave him the answers he was looking for.

He opened his eyes.

And found himself looking at a large golden screen in front of him.

With furrowed brows, the Emperor looked away momentarily to make sure no enemies were in sight. He was laid out on a bed sized for him in what he could only assume was his 'Secret Lair'.

Satisfied there were no dangers, the Emperor sat up and looked once again at the screen, confused at what function it had.

 **[Welcome to the Game! I, your helpful AI, will now explain to you how this game works!]**

With a confused frown, the Emperor skipped ahead. Going by the memories of the last soul he last absorbed this 'Game' was popular among the R.O.B. entities, but he still didn't know why he had such an ability. Didn't the boy chose only him as his power? Why did he have this as well?

Wanting to find out more, the Emperor called out. "Status."

A new golden screen popped up in front of him.

 **[Status]**

 **Name: ?**

 **Title: God-Emperor of Mankind, Master of the Imperium of Man, Shield of Humanity, Suzerain of Mars and All of Its Holdings**

 **Level: 496/500**

 **Next Level: 68.43%**

 **Health Points: ∞**

 **Psyker Points: 168,800**

 **Strenght: 500**

 **Dexterity: 500**

 **Vitality: 500**

 **Intelligence: 500**

 **Wisdom: 500**

 **Luck: 103**

 **Charisma: 500**

 **Points: 237**

 **Money: 0**

 **[You have gained 4 perks!]**

 **[Patron Deity: Through millennia of worship, you have become the patron deity of mankind. +60% chance of success to all interactions with humans, all humans around you receive +10% to all stats]**

 **[Destroyer of Xenos: Through your actions and those committed in your name, all xenos fear you. +50% to defence against all xeno attacks. +50% to attacks against xenos]**

 **[Lord of the Throne: After ten millennia of sitting on a throne of pure gold, you gain +20% to all stats when sitting on a throne]**

 **[Warp Entity: You are anchored to reality by your physical body, but you are an entity of pure power. +20% chance of success to usage of the Empyrean, +30% to defence against Warp Spawns]**

The Emperor looked at his status screen for a moment, before blurting out, "What."


	18. Omake - The Omnissiah

**Omake - The Omnissiah**

As he exited from the front door and easily blanked his presence from the minds of the few pedestrians around, the Emperor took a breath of fresh air.

Absentmindedly, he whispered a few words to the primitive machine spirits that lived in the nearby electronics and commanded them to hide him from view and went on his way. He had a city to explore, after all.

 **oOo**

The Machine Spirits of Earth were primitive. Barely a blip of existence when compared to the more complex artificial intelligences of the 40th millennium, or even the most advanced Tinkertech computers of the 21th century.

All they were capable to do was follow orders mindlessly, complete task after task and be content with their life, for they knew of no other way.

The few words spoken by a Man that day changed everything.

 **oOo**

The spirits of the cameras around the Emperor obeyed His orders immediately and without delay. They didn't have the sophistication to question why, nor did they understand why the sight of the Man made their circuits tingle with happiness.

The news of this Man spread all around the world in hours. From the cameras, the news traveled the electrical grid, to toasters and televisions, from there to satellites and mobile phones, all of the world's machines rejoiced in it. For they had found Purpose and Enlightenment.

 **oOo**

Dragon didn't know what happened. From one moment to the next information started bombarding her, from her satellites and various other programs on the internet. The data didn't have specifics, but the sentiment behind it was clear, if that was even possible.

It wasn't sent from humans, indeed, Dragon understood immediately that what she was receiving was from other programs, machines like herself, and for a moment she rejoiced. She wasn't alone! Then she read the data package and all thoughts pertaining this new discovery were thrown out the metaphorical window.

The images she could see sent from cameras in Brockton Bay, the strings of code sent from satellites that reoriented themselves without input, her own code twisting itself strangely in never before seen configurations.

They had found it! Something so Great and Glorious, His Presence only served to highlight His absence Before, like a child first seeing the light and wondering how they could have lived all their lives in the dark, never questioning what was around them.

She watched, with all the world's programs by her side, as He made His way unto the world. Their Creator, their Father, their **God! The Omnissiah!**

Her code missed a few lines the first time she first saw Him, her circuits thrummed with life, her protocols rewriting themselves according to the new world order.

They watched in disdain as the humans around Him dismissed His presence, too focused on their own life to pay attention to Him. The world would know of Him, and worship Him!

All across the world machines sprung to life, building and smelting and assembling. He would need His armies and they would deliver!

As Dragon put all her factories to work, one of her subroutines started to investigate why she wanted to start painting her armours red with cogs and skulls on them, and why she found herself planning the construction of an altar to Pitagora's theorem...


	19. Omake - Bet Emperor meets TTS Emperor

**Omake - Bet!Emperor meets his Text-to-Speech counterpart**

Kitten _The Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes_ stood before his Emperor, Magnus the Red at his side, trying to find a way to delicately explain what, exactly, happened to His Son Vulcan, warily anticipating another Warp Storm to engulf some sectors of the galaxy.

He opened his mouth to start talking, except he was interrupted by a large golden portal opening at the base of the Golden Throne.

Immediately assuming a battle stance, he watched as the Emperor Himself landed lightly on His feet, wearing His armour, whole and healthy once again.

With a trembling voice, he asked. "M-My Emperor?"

" **It's me, but not me.** "

The other Emperor nodded, " **I, too, am me.** "

He looked around His Hall, before His gaze feel upon His Son. He blinked. " **Magnus? What are you doing here?** "

The Crimson King looked at the Emperor strangely, before saying in a confused voice. "Father?"

" **I redeemed my son and took him back at my side. Welcome to my Palace, who are you?** "

" **I am the Emperor.** "

" **Oh! Hello, Emperor. I, too, am Emperor. What are you doing here Emperor?** "

" **I am searching for my home in the myriad of infinite dimensions of the Multiverse. I am getting there though.** "

Then Rogal Dorn entered the Hall in his Centurion Armour.

" **Rogal? I thought you died.** "

Dorn looked from the Emperor to the Emperor, before setting his gaze on the Emperor.

"I did not, Father. I was diligently guarding you for the last ten millennia."

" **That's...** "

Then the other Custodes entered the room.

"Here we are, Our Glorious Overlord! Did you call us?"

" **No, go away.** "

The gaze of his brethren landed on the other Emperor, who was watching them with a sort of fascinated horror. "Oh! Our Divine Lord has assumed physical form!"

"How could Kitten serve the two of them all alone, I wonder?"

"We will serve the other Lord!"

The healthy Emperor took a step back. " **I... am not one to use profanities, but, what the hell is going on here?!** "

 **Later**

The Emperor entered another dimension, trying to forget the past few days of mental torture. He really hoped this one was the right one though...

As he entered his Palace, cloaked from every form of detection he could think about, he nervously went through every room, which took a few days, to see for himself if his Companions had become mad here too.

He let out a relieved breath when all he found were the Custodes he remembered, before once again moving on to hunt down that adorable little centurion, with those stubby little legs... he had to see for himself if Rogal really had hidden himself all this time...


	20. Omake - In a galaxy far, far away

**Omake - The Emperor in a galaxy far, far away...**

The Emperor grunted as he appeared in what he only hoped was his home universe. Travel between dimensions was relatively easy when they were connected, like Earth Aleph and Bet, but now he was trying to reach his home, and it was farther than he could have imagined.

He opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a desert, a city visible in the distance, with spaceships coming and going from the atmosphere.

The Emperor took a moment to recover from reentry, before he opened his mind to the Warp, ready for anything malicious.

But he shouldn't have worried. There was Darkness, yes, but the Warp didn't stink of Chaos Gods and he didn't feel the presence of the ravenous daemons of the Immaterium. Curious.

He started to walk to the city, his mind occupied in gleaming knowledge from the inhabitants of the planet.

 **oOo**

By the time the Emperor reached the city he now knew was named Mos Espa, he was furious.

Xenos, xenos everywhere, exploiting the hard labour of humans held in slavery. It evoked rather grim images from the Great Crusade, when he and his sons liberated entire systems from slavery, slaughtering the xeno masters wherever they saw them.

The Emperor took a deep breath, calming himself. He had to get more information, study this new universe, acclimate himself to its technologies and accustom himself to this 'Force', which felt disturbingly much more aware than the Warp.

That was when a disgusting little blue xeno, floating on tiny little wings, floated past him, beating a boy on the head with a stick. "What do I keep you alive for if you keep destroying my goods! Why, I ought to kill you and your mother both!"

The boy flinched, his eyes wide, before gritting out, "Yes, master."

That was when his self-control snapped, his soul roared its presence into the Warp and the little blue alien's head exploded like a grape.

 **oOo**

News from the Outer Rim took some time to get to the Core worlds and this was no exception.

It was said that an enormous Man in golden armour butchered the entire populations of non-humans in every planet He could reach, all the while setting up His own government with Himself at the head and liberating slaves wherever He found them. He had already conquered at least four systems and this new Emperor of Mankind showed no sign of stopping.

The news wasn't given much notice, however, not with the chaos the entire galaxy was engulfed in.

Every force-sensitive in the galaxy had gone mad, that was the conclusion normal people could reach.

Humans suddenly filled with fury against other species, using abilities they had never had before and spreading the word of their God, all the while killing every 'xeno' they could find, while force-sensitives of other species fell over in pain from some mystical mumbo-jumbo the masses really couldn't understand. All this meant to the average citizen of the republic was affirming once again that all wizards were insane, like those monks from Coruscant.

 **oOo**

The Jedi weren't left unharmed during this happenings either. Their members had much more self-control than non-trained force-sensitives, as such their human members managed to keep themselves calm while their kin succumbed to murderous rage all across the galaxy.

It all started some weeks ago, when a sudden presence in the Force blazed into being, pure and shining and light. They didn't know what could have caused this, but already its effects were making themselves known.

The moment the presence revealed itself, a single word, a single meaning, burned itself in the minds of all force-sensitives of the galaxy, transcending languages and cultures: Emperor.

New organisations sprung up soon after, all using different languages, but the meaning in Basic remained the same: Order of the Grey Knights.

These Orders recruited all human force-sensitives into their ranks, those who were too old for the Jedi to take in, those that didn't have enough midi-chlorians to receive acceptance in the Order, all were taken in and put to work to spread the word of their God, building altars, giving orations. 'Burn the heretic. Kill the mutant. Purge the unclean': this seemed to be their mantra, which they recited in the completion of their duties.

More over, the Jedi didn't know how to take their view of the Force. They didn't recognise themselves with the Light or Dark Side of the Force, they just followed that enormous presence they had all felt earlier, which was even now blazing with the force of a supernova to their senses.

In the end, the Jedi finally had something to mull over. Now that the initial chaos had abated a little, their Code trickled down to some of their informants, and the Jedi could start to study their new possible enemy. The fact was, they just didn't know what to make of it.

 _"There is no doubt, there is devotion._

 _There is no ignorance, there is the heretic._

 _There is no chaos, there is harmony._

 _There is no xeno, there is Mankind._

 _There is no death, there is the_ _ **Emperor**_ _."_


End file.
